The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams
by Black Omochao
Summary: The nonsense yo-kai had brought to the life of one Nathan Adams was already more than enough for him, waking up one day to find he had a 'harem' was probably one of the last things he needed, too bad for him...
1. I have a Harem?

This is a story idea that I had one day, and it seemed like it could be fun; what if, alongside the daily problems that yo-kai cause, Nate also had to deal with having a harem?

This story isn't exactly serious, nor is there going to be an overarching plot. While there will be continuity between chapters, it's a theoretically endless story that I'll write chapters for when I feel like it. This doesn't fall into my main or side story categories, it would be closer to one of my Infinite Loop compilations, aside from the fact I'm writing this alone.

Speaking of my main stories, I've finished the next chapter for a Grimm's Aura, I just need to do some proofreading before I can post it, so hopefully I'll get to that soon.

Anyway, though this chapter is rather basic in how it just introduces the concept of the 'harem,' expect some other chapters to combine typical harem nonsense (well, toned down from some of what would be considered 'typical' harems, these are _kids_) along with yo-kai interference.

This is primarily based on the anime, though the personalities for the classmates aside from Nate, Katie, Eddie and Bear will be mostly based on the games, since the anime doesn't really… give them any personalities.

This story isn't about how or why Nate suddenly has a harem, and that will likely never be explained, it's about how he deals with it now that he does have a harem.

Hope this nonsense I wrote is somewhat enjoyable.

* * *

**Chapter 1: I have a Harem!?**

* * *

Nathan Adams kicked a rock to the side as he walked along the sidewalk, leading to Springdale Elementary, where he would have another ordinary day at school (hopefully without yo-kai interference), followed by his ever-loyal yo-kai butler; Whisper.

Though at this moment, young Nate wasn't focused on school, rather, his focus was directly on one of his schoolmates…

"I just don't get it… what can I do to get Katie to notice me?" the boy muttered with a shake of his head.

"I don't think you should be so focused on this, Nate," Whisper interjected as he floated up to his master's side. "Katie isn't interested in you. You disinterest her, perhaps you should just accept that?"

The ghost's happy tone, along with his comments, irritated the boy with the yo-kai watch, "We don't know that for sure, she just… hasn't noticed I like her yet, but she also hasn't rejected me!"

"Because you've never asked her out," Whisper pointed out blandly, before a thought crossed his mind. "Oh, there's an idea; just ask her out! Get rejected and be done with it!"

"What!?" Nate's face went red as he kept glaring at his butler with defiance. "I can't 'just ask her out!' And besides that, what makes you so sure I'd be rejected!?"

"First of all; yes, you can," Whisper insisted bluntly. "Second of all; I think you may just need to face facts, Nate; Katie just isn't interested in you," the ghostly butler shook his head as he kept up with his master. "You simply haven't developed any traits at this point in your life that the girls in your age group would find appealing, you're boring. It's nothing to be down about; you're still young, you'll meet a girl who likes you someday!"

Whisper's attempt at encouragement did little to brighten the boy's spirits. "_Thanks_ Whisper, that was _really helpful_…"

The yo-kai was quick to pick up on the sarcasm, "Nate, you just need to accept that Katie doesn't like you as anything more than a friend; a boy your age shouldn't be so focused on dating anyway! The sooner you give this up and just enjoy your childhood, the better off you'll be."

Nate halted in his walk briefly, turning to look at his butler with an annoyed expression.

"Hey, Nate!"

The sudden shout of a female voice stopped Nate from giving any possible piece of his mind to Whisper, looking across the street to where the voice had come from, the boy's eyes met with those of a girl he recognized, "Meg?"

On the other side of the street stood one of Nate's classmates; Megan Jones. The pigtailed girl gave an excited grin when Nate's eyes met hers, her cheeks reddening a bit, she waved enthusiastically before looking both ways, and rushing across the street when she was sure no cars were coming.

Nate and Whisper both watched with confusion as the girl came over.

"Hey, Nate!" Meg repeated, giving a bright smile, her hands behind her back as she stood, shuffling her feet a bit shyly as she kept her eyes on the boy. "I'm glad I managed to run into you!"

"You are?" both Nate and Whisper questioned at the same time, though only Nate was heard by the bashful girl.

"Yep!" Meg giggled, clasping one of Nate's hands unexpectedly and looking at him with sparkling eyes and a prominent blush.

Nate's face turned a bit red too at the sudden contact, while Whisper just stared with a blank expression.

"I really, really, really wanted to see you Nate!" Meg's smile widened as she kept hold of the flustered boy's hand.

"Y-You did…?" Nate took a step back, completely unsure on how to handle the sudden attention. "But… we don't really talk that much."

"We don't?" the brunette girl tilted her head ever so innocently. "Well, I suppose so, but I can't really fathom why; you're such an _interesting_ guy Nate."

"… I think she's making fun of you, Nate," Whisper finally suggested, looking a bit relieved to have found a 'logical' explanation, in his mind at least, for this sudden turn of events.

Nate sent his butler an aside glare, before internally letting out a groan at the likelihood of that being what was going on, Nate looked towards Meg to question her, only to be stunned into silence by the pure look of _adoration _she was giving him. "Ah…?"

"I think we need to spend more time together, Natey-kins!" Meg released the boy's hand as she smiled charmingly. "Oh, is it okay if I call you 'Natey-kins?'"

Nate just stared in silence, unable to find any words with which to speak.

"She's _making fun of you_, Nate! Snap out of it!" the yo-kai butler hovered around the boy's head, trying to snap him out of his stupor, but to no avail.

"I'll take that silence as acceptance, _Natey-kins_!" Meg laughed as she did a short cheer, with a fist-pump into the air. "So, what do you think about spending a bit more time together? We can start by walking to school together, what do you say?"

Finally shaking himself out of his stunned silence, Nate said the only thing he could think to; "Um… sure…?"

"Yeah!" Meg clapped her hands with a look of pure bliss, before she jumped forward and _latched _onto Nate's left arm, hugging it tightly and nuzzling her head on his shoulder. After a moment, she paused, giving the still-stunned boy an embarrassed and slightly apologetic look, "Oh, sorry; is it okay for me to do this?"

"I… um… fine?" Nate was still having trouble speaking.

Giggling a bit at the vague confirmation, the pigtailed girl continued in her hugging of one Nathan Adam's arm, before the two continued on the walk to the school, walking in tandem.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as the human pair, plus one ghostly follower, continued on the path towards school, only occasionally broken by the sounds of a bird, bug, or one of Meg's sighs of content.

"What's… with her?" Nate muttered to himself as he glanced at Meg, thankfully she was too lost in her own world to hear him.

"I'm sure this is some kind of prank; I'd be on the look out Nate!" Whisper warned urgently, looking a bit panicked as he looked over Meg with suspicion.

"Would you knock that off," Nate hissed quietly, swatting at the yo-kai with his free hand, though he missed. "Maybe she really does want to be better friends with me, did you ever think of that?"

"Oh, Natey-kins, what are you whispering about?" Meg shuffled a bit as she finally came back to reality, lifting her head from the boy's shoulder and looking at him with a mix of curiosity and playfulness.

"Er… nothing," Nate nervously chuckled, trying to wave off the girl's curiosity, while also subtly glaring at Whisper from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, well, if you say so," Meg grinned, giving a wink before she tightened her grip on the boy's arm.

Nate gave a slightly nervous gulp.

"Oh, N-Nate…?"

A small female voice had the two humans stopping, the boy looking over with curiosity, while the girl looked annoyed at the interruption.

"Shelly…?" Nate questioned at the appearance of another one of his classmates.

The shy, glasses-wearing girl stood a few meters behind Nate and Meg, looking nervous, her eyes turning to the ground as she seemed to be working up the courage to speak, "H-Hi, Nate…"

"… Hi, Shelly?" Nate returned with a bit of a quizzical look.

"Yeah, _hi Shelly_, what are _you_ doing here?" Meg asked in an uncharacteristically nasty tone, her grip on Nate's arm tightening a bit more, becoming almost _possessive_ in nature.

"Meg?" the boy looked at his current companion with a bit of shock, since when did Meg talk like _that_?

Whisper seemed to sense some sort of impending danger, as he backed off from the scene as silently as he could.

"I was… walking to school," Shelly managed to say, looking frightened under Meg's scrutinizing glare, and a faint blush appearing on her cheeks when her eyes briefly met Nate's, before she looked to the ground again. "And… I saw you and wanted to ask if we could… w-walk together…?" the last of the shy girl's words came out as barely a squeak.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Nate asked curiously, his expression shifting between confused and concerned as he looked between Shelly and the increasingly irritated Meg.

"I think she said she'd like to enjoy her alone time on the walk to school, so we should hurry up and leave her to that!" Meg insisted, pulling on the boy's arm, trying to lead him away from the other girl.

"I don't think that's what she said," Nate tried to protest, though he quickly found himself being pulled along by the newly aggressive female.

"H-hold on!" Shelly manage to speak up in a louder tone, shuffling forward in an attempt to catch up. "P-Please, can I walk the rest of the way to school with you, N-Nate…?"

Nate looked back over at the black-haired girl, a bit confused; he did sit next to Shelly in class, but they still didn't interact all that much, though he didn't see any reason to deny. "Um, sure."

Nate barely noticed as Shelly's face turned bright red as she gained a tiny smile, nor how Meg looked at the other girl with what could only be described as a _snarl_.

And so, the walk continued, though Meg kept a firm grip on Nate's arm, and the aura of possessiveness she seemed to be emitting left the still-nervous Shelly to walk a few paces behind the two.

Whisper watched from a bit ahead on the path, his expression a mix of fearful and befuddlement, "Just what is going on here…?"

From her position walking behind the two, Shelly gave a slightly jealous look towards Meg, whom turned back to look at her and stuck her tongue out, flaunting her position by pressing her head onto Nate's shoulder.

Shelly let out the subtlest of growls, a trembling fist forming in one of her hands.

Nate, completely oblivious to the micro war brewing between his two female companions, looked up at the sight of Springdale Elementary as they stepped passed the front gate.

"Well, we're here," the boy announced, bringing the two girl's attentions back to him, Nate gave an awkward smile as he focused on Meg. "So… you can let go of my arm now, right?"

"Aw, come on _Natey-kins_, can't I hang on just a_ bit_ longer?" Meg pleaded as cutely as she could, while also being sure that Shelly had heard her new pet name for the boy.

The slight twitch in Shelly's posture was evidence enough she _had_ heard it…

Nate looked away with a bit of embarrassment, gently pulling his arm away from the disappointed girl, "Sorry, Meg, but I don't think I can walk to class like– " Nate had started to walk forward as he spoke, but stopped when he felt himself bump into someone, "Oh, sorry!"

The person Nate had bumped into was a grinning Zoey, standing beside an identically grinning Lina; both girls stood directly in the path that lead to the school. Nate could have sworn they were not there a moment ago…

"Hi, Nate!" both spooky girls spoke in unison, grinning eerily as they seemed to stare straight into the boy's soul (well, Zoey at least, with Lina it was… a bit harder to tell…)

"Uh, yeah… hi…" Nate greeted nervously, subtly going for his yo-kai watch and shining the light around, having grown just a bit suspicious of what was going on today, though he could find no yo-kai, aside from his butler, whom was still keeping a bit of distance between them. "What… what are you two doing… standing here?"

Both Zoey and Lina's grins widened, "Why, waiting for _you_ Nate, what else?" the two giggled in unison, sending a shiver down Nate's spine.

Meg glared at the two spooky girls, crossing her arms with a huff, "You know, that 'spooky twin' thing, doesn't really work if you _aren't twins_!"

"We aren't trying to be 'twins,'" both Lina and Zoey stated calmly, turning their grins Meg's way.

The pigtailed girl suddenly found herself wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

Shelly had wisely chosen to retreat, giving a longing glance towards Nate, before she took advantage of her less noticeable presence to skitter around the pathway, without drawing the attention of the two spooky girls.

Nate gave an uncomfortable cough, "Look, we need to get to class, so– "the boy's words were cut off when Lina and Zoey moved to his left and right respectively and each grabbed one of his arms.

"Yes, we do need to get to class, so why don't you _escort us_ there?"

"Hey, that was _my_ thing!" Meg whined as she shook her fists but was silenced again when the other two girls looked at her.

"Hey, Nate!" another voice interrupted, before Alex ran over after entering the school gate, grinning brightly at the freaked-out boy, not seeming scared by Lina and Zoey's stares, as Meg and Shelly were, in that she grabbed hold of the boy and _yanked_ him away from the two spooky girls without even a second thought, "After class, let's head to the park and hang out, I've been wanting to talk to you about some soccer strategies for a while!"

"Wha…?" Nate just stared blankly, his pupils shrinking when he noticed more of his female classmates were starting to gather.

"He can't go with you to the park, Alex! He's going to go to the bookstore with me, right Nate!" Sarah smiled at the boy as she shoved Alex aside and grabbed his shoulder.

"W-Wait, hold on…" Nate tried to protest, his face burning red as more girls surrounded him and all began arguing over whom he would be going with for whatever reason, it didn't take long before he couldn't take it anymore, "I-I HAVE TO GET TO CLASS!" the brown-haired boy shouted in a panic, before he broke free of the crowd of girls and rushed off to the school…

* * *

Nate gave a few heavy breaths, his hands to his knees, as he hunched in the hallway, "What… what _was_ all that!?"

"I'm sorry to say that I can't even begin to fathom what all _that_ was about," Whisper, whom had caught up to the boy along the way, commented with a shrug. "This definitely goes beyond the scope of a simple prank, or wanting to be better friends, that's for sure…"

Nate groaned as he stood up straight, holding up his wrist and tapping the device strapped to it, "I even tried looking for a yo-kai, but I didn't see any…"

"Well of course you didn't see any, there's no yo-kai that makes girls act crazy, Nate," Whisper huffed in indignation at the very idea… before he subtly turned away and started swiping through his yo-kai pad frantically.

Nate gave his butler an unimpressed look, before sighing and continuing to class.

"Hey, Nate!" Bear waved, standing with Eddie in front of the door to their homeroom. "What's got you so out of breath?"

Eddie gave the yo-kai watch holding boy a strange look, "Yeah… you also look a bit sweaty, did you run here?"

"Yeah, I…" Nate looked to the side, his face going a little red along with a frown coming to his face, internally debating if he should even attempt to explain to the two what had happened to him, "I… got caught up in a swarm of girls for some reason, I had to run away…"

Eddie and Bear both stared at their friend in silence for a couple seconds, before they burst into laughter.

"Oh man, 'swarm of girls,' that's a good one Nate!" Bear wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed harder.

Nate looked annoyed at his male friends' reactions, immediately regretting his decision to tell them. He gave a huff and crossed his arms, "Well, I'm _glad_ to see you two are normal…"

"You can't exactly blame them for being skeptical," Whisper pointed out, but was silenced by the glare his master sent him.

"Hey guys," a brown-haired girl greeted as she stepped over, just as Eddie and Bear calmed down. "What's so funny?"

"Katie!?" Nate jumped in surprise at the appearance of his crush, he almost excitedly anticipated her behaving in a similar manner to the other girls… but she seemed completely normal, just giving him a smile and wave like she usually would.

"Oh, nothing much, but Nate seems to think there's a swarm of girls after him," Bear chuckled mischievously, only to be jabbed by Eddie's elbow. "Ow!?"

"Don't just _tell _her that," the intelligent boy hisses quietly.

"Swarm of girls, what?" Katie blinked in confusion, looking towards Nate questioningly.

Nate looked like he might die of embarrassment at a moment's notice, his face turning bright red as he held out his hands, "It's nothing! Really, it's nothing!"

Katie looked skeptical of the denial but didn't press the issue before she entered the classroom.

"_Nice _save," Bear grinned, only to be jabbed by Eddie once again. "Ow! Come on man!"

"We need to get to class too, let's go," Eddie said, gesturing to the classroom. "And don't worry Nate, I won't tell anybody about your delusions, and I'll _try _to make sure Bear doesn't either."

Nate grumbled a bit as he glared after the two other boys as they entered the class, before he grumpily followed, his yo-kai butler not far behind.

* * *

'_I don't know what to think about this…_' Nate thought with a groan as he took his seat in class. '_Maybe Eddie and Bear were right to laugh at me, but still… why were all those girls acting like that?_' glancing over, Nate noticed that Shelly had already taken her usual seat next to his.

"H-Hello again, Nate," the bespectacled girl greeted with a nervous smile, a slight hint of pink on her cheeks.

"Oh, hi Shelly," Nate gave a confused greeting, trying his best to smile at the shy girl.

Shelly let out a dreamy sigh, hiding her face in her hands as she looked away from the boy.

"Huh…?" Nate stared blankly at Shelly's reaction, pulling up the yo-kai watch, he shined the light around Shelly, but found nothing. '_What is going on here…?_'

Eddie and Bear looked similarly confused as they observed the abnormal interaction between their two classmates, from their seats lined up behind Nate's.

"Yahoo, Nate! I missed you on my way to school!" one of their other classmates that had gotten there before them, Maya Skylar, called out from her seat to the aforementioned boy, despite her position being the complete opposite end of the classroom from his. "Let's hang out after class!"

Eddie, Bear and Katie all looked blankly towards Nate, the other two students whom had arrived before them, Andy and Lucas, also gave the boy odd looks.

Nate suddenly felt like sinking into his chair; he didn't know what was going on, but he had the distinct feeling that he didn't want _this_ kind of attention…

"Whew, finally caught up!" Meg suddenly exclaimed as she charged into class, before she immediately scanned the room and zeroed in on Nate, and Shelly… "Shelly! That's not fair, why do you always get to sit next to Natey-kins!?" the aspiring pop-star rushed over to the shy girl's desk and slammed her hands on her desk, startling Shelly in the process.

"_NATEY-KINS_!?" all the boys in class, as well as Katie, all shouted with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion.

"Wait, Natey-kins!?" Maya stood up from her seat, glaring towards Meg with an intense expression. "Meg, where do you get off calling _my_ Nate 'Natey-kins!?' If anyone should be giving Nate a cute pet name, it should be me!"

That exclamation tore Meg's attention away from Shelly, and on to the new challenger, "Excuse me, did you just call _my_ Natey-kins; '_your _Nate!?'" Marching over to the fashionista's desk, Meg gave a fierce glare.

"Why so mad, Magen? Is it so hard to believe that Nate would prefer _me_ over _you_?" Maya scoffed as she glared back, the tension between the two girls increased, and several of the other students could have sworn they saw lightning spark between their eyes…

'_P-Prefer her? 'my Natey-kins,' 'my Nate?' W-What is going on here!?_' while Nate was already aware that things were off, now everything was coming to a head, and though he had been confused on what exactly was going on, something was becoming clear to him… those girls weren't talking about just being 'better _friends_' with him…

A tap on the shoulder snapped Nate out of his slightly panicked thoughts, turning over to Eddie whom was giving him a very confused look, with Bear sitting behind him with a similar look.

"Er, Nate… are you… _two-timing_ Meg and Maya…?" Eddie's voice didn't sound accusatory, despite the nature of the question, he sounded completely befuddled, and desperately seeking a logical explanation for what was unfolding right before him.

"What, n-no! I haven't even been dating anyone," Nate had to restrain himself from yelling as he spoke to his male friends, glancing over at Maya and Megs continued confrontation, as well as all the strange looks that were now being sent his way by the several other boy's that had entered the class in time to hear a bit of the two girls' argument, as well as the ones already here, and _Katie_… '_Why is Katie the only girl acting normal today…?_'

"Well, _I_ believe you Nate," Bear assured before Eddie could speak again. "There's no way you could have been dating both Maya and Meg without anyone noticing, plus, they're both kind of out of your league,' the large boy let out a bit of a chuckle as he said that.

Nate just gave Bear a deadpan look.

Eddie gave a similar look, before focusing on Nate again, "Well, I wouldn't put it quite _like that_, but I also believe you, since it really wouldn't make any sense, but…" the intelligent boy looked over to Maya and Meg… whom had now resorted to shoving and pulling each other's hair, he cringed slightly. "That doesn't explain the sudden behavioral change, or why they're focused on you?"

"It because Nate's the coolest…"

The three boys were surprised by the sudden, quiet comment from the shy girl seated beside Nate.

Shelly shuffled a bit in her seat, smiling softly towards the boy next to her, looking down in an attempt to hide her reddened cheeks.

Nate own cheeks reddened as he gave his neighbor a completely stunned expression, "Shelly, did… did you just say _I'm_ the… _coolest_…?" though his heart still belonged to Katie, Nate had never noticed just how _cute _Shelly was until that moment…

Shelly nodded with a bit of a squeak, "Y-Yeah, I did…"

Eddie and Bear could just stare in wide-eyed silence as this exchange took place; considering the most amazing thing about Nate, at least according to his peers, was that he was 'amazingly average,' the idea of someone calling him the 'coolest' was not something they had ever expected to hear.

Maya and Meg both stopped in their conflict when they looked over and noticed the way Nate and Shelly were looking at each other, with fire in their eyes, both girls rushed towards the target of their affection. "Stop right there, Shell! He's mine!"

"What's happening…?" Katie just stared at Nate's desk from hers directly across the room, unable to fathom the sort of behavior she was seeing from two of her own classmates.

The sudden rushing in of Alex and Sarah took Katie's attention for a moment, looking towards her two friends for possible help.

"Hey, guys, something's going on with– "

"Nate!" Both girls suddenly shouted, rushing towards their target's desk, leaving Katie completely ignored.

"G-Going on with… everyone…?" Katie muttered blankly.

"Nate should sit by me today, Shelly switch with me!" Alex shouted in a fiery matter as she shoved aside both Meg and Maya to look directly at the shy girl.

"Huh?" Shelly shrunk under the intense aura that Alex was giving off, but a quick glance towards Nate had Shelly taking a deep breath, before doing her best to hold her ground.

"Now hold on, I got to Natey-kins first, so you all should just back off!" Meg growled, looking at Alex with anger for both shoving her, and demanding to be the one to sit next to Nate. "Eddie, switch with Nate so I can sit next to him!"

"Huh!?" Eddie just gawked at being suddenly dragged into the argument.

"Hold on, we can't just force Shelly or Nate to switch seats," Sarah tried to speak rationally, grabbing both Alex and Meg's shoulders. "We should just sit through class first, then Nate can decide who _he_ wants to sit with at lunch," at that last bit of her sentence, Sarah sent and expectant look towards Nate, along with a wink.

"I… what…?" Nate shrunk back, barely able to process what was going on.

No calm could be maintained in the situation, as the remaining batch of students entered the room, with all of the girls immediately focusing on Nate and rushing over to find some way to sit next to him, or preemptively claim his attention for after class.

All the boy's, along with Katie, just stared as the conflict continued, with many of the girls starting to shout. The expressions of the boys ranged from blank, gawking looks, to looks of anger and/or jealousy.

Luckily, before either Nate could have a panic attack, the girls ripped him apart, or possibly the boys did the same, Mr. Johnson chose that moment to enter the classroom, just as the bell rang.

"Hello class, sorry I'm a bit late, I…" the teacher started, but trailed off when he noticed the large cluster of girls focused towards the upper right corner of his class. "Um, what is going on here? Everyone, please take your seats!"

The call of the teacher forced the various girls to part from Nate's desk, though not without a few longing looks, smiles, or winks, before they left behind a boy whom felt like his face was on fire.

Shelly gave a tiny smile of triumph over having kept her advantageous position.

"Well, I'll settle for second best," Meg managed a grin as she took her seat next to Eddie.

Nate looked over with a desperate look, Eddie shrugged. Nate looked further back and noticed Lulu take her seat next to Bear, giggling a bit when she noticed he was looking at her and blowing him a kiss.

Nate's pupils shrank at the blatant action of affection, before he turned his focus to Bear, and shrank back at the glare he was giving him. Nate knew Bear had a crush on Lulu… he probably wouldn't be able to count on him to help with this situation…

Nate took a look towards Katie's desk for a moment, he noticed she looked towards him as well. Nate tried his best to smile as he waved… only for Katie to quickly look away without a second to spare. The boy with the yo-kai watch felt an icy chill flow over his body.

"Well… this is certainly a strange turn of events…" Whisper muttered while scratching his head as he floated over to his master's side.

"There… has to be a yo-kai behind this, I've _never_ been popular with girls," Nate almost hated himself for admitting that, but he was desperate for answers, and completely overwhelmed. Frantically shining the yo-kai watch's light one last time, the boy could only whimper as his search yielded no results.

"Nate, I know it's hard to believe, but no yo-kai is doing this," Whisper shook his head apologetically, holding up his yo-kai pad. "I'm actually serious, I tirelessly searched the yo-kai pad for some kind of explanation, but there are simply no yo-kai capable of this, at least not at this scale, or without being around you."

"That can't be…" Nate glanced around the classroom again, shuddering a bit at a few glares he noticed from his male classmates, and nervous at the various looks of affection from their female counterparts. "If it's not a yo-kai, what is _this_, Whisper…"

The yo-kai butler let out a solemn sigh, patting the boy on the shoulder, "I'm sorry to say this Nate, but… it seems you have a harem."

Nate stared at the ghost in silent for a couple moments, before his words hit him like a train, "HAREM!?"

"Nathan Adams, why are shouting?" Mr. Johnson looked towards the boy sternly at the sudden interruption to his class.

"N-Nothing, it was nothing, sorry…" Nate whimpered as he sunk into his seat, noticing how the glares that some of the boys were giving him had grown in intensity, and how a few of the girls let out a few giggles. '_What… why… yo-kai stuff is hard enough, why is this a thing now!?_'

And thus, without any warning, the life of one Nathan Adams got just a bit little more complicated…

* * *

Well, that's the beginning of that.

As I said; this story is theoretically endless, and I'll update it when the inspiration strikes me, though I do already have a few chapter ideas.

Oh, and if anyone is disappointed by a lack of Hailey in this chapter, don't worry; I have plans for her.


	2. Consequences of Harem!

Well, here's the next chapter of this chaos. Hope it's entertaining.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Consequences of Harem!**

* * *

The sun shined high in the sky, the weekend had come, which meant no school. And for one child, he couldn't be more grateful for the break.

Nate moaned a bit as he sat in his room, laying his head on his desk, the young man's stressed mind drifted back to some of the events that had transpired in the last couple days, since he had acquired his 'harem…'

* * *

"_Natey-kins, sit next to me!" Meg begged as she dragged the reluctant boy by his arm through the active cafeteria._

"_Wait, hold on!" Nate tried to protest, glancing back at the table where Eddie, Bear, and Katie all sat, staring at him with strange looks._

"_You don't have to say anything! I know it's intimidating asking someone as cute as me if they'd sit next to you, but I assure you, I would be delighted to be in your company!" Meg exclaimed cheerfully, continuing to drag the boy._

"_Meg, wait!" Nate attempted to pull away from the girl, only for his other arm to suddenly be grabbed, the nervous boy glanced over and spotted Maya, smiling at him, before she and Meg began glaring at each other._

"_Oh Megan, what are you doing forcibly pulling sweet Nate along? Can't you see he doesn't want to sit with you?" the brunette girl gained a vicious smirk as she tugged on the boy's arm._

_Meg tugged back on the other arm, glaring at Maya, "No! Natey-kins is mine! He wants to be with me!"_

_Nate couldn't get a word in as the two girls started to play tug-a-war with his arms, and things only got worse from there on as more girls came over to try and have him sit with them…_

* * *

"_Alright class, for today's assignment, you'll be working in teams of two," the science teacher; Mr. Barton, explained with a calm smile, before he pulled up a list of names, "So let's see– "_

"_Nate, please partner with me!" Chelsea exclaimed happily, jumping up in her seat._

"_Huh…?" the boy blinked, having been looking at Katie hopefully._

_Mr. Barton paused at the interruption, before he shrugged, "Alright, Nathan Adams and Chelsea Chiyo– "_

"_Wait, no, make Nate my partner!" Natalie exclaimed in protest._

"_No way! Come on Nate, you and me, you know you want to!" Alex called out to the boy, sending him a wink._

"_Nate should be our partner," Lina stated, giving an eerie smile while gesturing to herself and Zoey._

"_Yes, that would be the best combination," Zoey agreed with a smug smirk._

"_We're working in pairs, not threes! Plus, you two are insane!" Lulu shouted angrily, slamming a fist on her desk. "Nate belongs with me!"_

_It wasn't long before all the girls in class (aside from Katie) were arguing about whom should be partnered with the boy, until Mr. Barton's patience finally ran out._

"_Alright, enough!" the science teacher exclaimed, causing all the girls to halt in their argument. Mr. Barton sighed, shaking his head, "Nathan Adams will be partnered with Katie Forester. Moving on! Next…"_

_Ignoring how most of the boy's in class were glaring at him, a big smile formed on Nate's face at the teacher's decision, 'I'm partnered with Katie! Yahoo!' He looked over at his newly assigned partner hopefully, only to see Katie looking nervously at all the other girl's that were now glaring at her, before she noticed him, and gave him a very pointed stink eye. Nate silently sunk into his seat with a miserable expression._

"_I… I would like to have been partners with N-Nate…" Shelly muttered quietly, a bit too late, blushing while staring at the floor._

* * *

_Nate groaned as he got up from his things, gathering his things to head home._

"_Man, you look terrible," Eddie spoke up as he looked over his friend._

"_Well, as you are probably aware, this hasn't exactly been a calm week for me…" the yo-kai watch user grumbled as he rubbed his head._

_Eddie looked unsure how to respond to that._

"_N-Nate…" Shelly attempted to speak up, looking at the boy from her seat beside him, as she got up. "C-Could you– "_

"_Oh, Natey-kins!" Meg announced loudly as she marched over to the boy, pushing Shelly to the side before clinging to his arm._

"_Hey…" Shelly whined in protest._

"_Oh right, I see your point…" Eddie admitted, a sweatdrop forming on his head in response to Nate's predicament._

"_Come on, Eddie, let's get out of here before it becomes a free-for-all again!" Bear suddenly announced, getting up from his seat and running past the other two boys._

"_Hey! Don't leave me!" Nate cried out in protest, unable to escape from Meg's overly affectionate grip._

"_Sorry Nate!" Eddie quickly said, fleeing as well._

"_Natey-kins, you'll walk me home, won't you?" Meg cooed with sparkling eyes._

"_I– "_

"_Of course I'll walk home with you, you don't even need to ask!" the pigtailed girl giggled, nuzzling her head into Nate's shoulder._

"_But… I wanted to walk with Nate…" Shelly's expression turned the slightest bit angry as she stared at Meg._

"_Please, I– "Nate tried to protest, but was interrupted by, what else, more girls!_

"_Megan, get your hands off my adorable Natey-watey!" Lulu shouted as she came charging over._

"_Let Nate go, I already have plans with him!" Sarah cried out as she ran over._

_As girls surrounded him, Nate just groaned loudly and practically went limp._

* * *

Putting a hand to his head, Nate let out a heavy sigh; it had certainly been a hard week.

And if the issues with the girls weren't bad enough, there was also the matter of how the other guys in class had been treating him since this 'harem' nonsense had started… Eddie and Bear were really the only ones to give him any leeway with it, and even they had their limits.

Especially Bear, whenever it was Lulu whom was trying to get his attention.

Though, he supposed Lucas didn't really give him any grief over the 'harem' either, but that seemed to be because he was disinterested for the most part, not because he had any faith in Nate's character…

"I just don't understand why this is happening! I didn't do anything different than usual, yet the girls are all over me!" Nate practically screamed, pulling at his hair. "And the worst part is how Katie's been so _weird _with me since it started! I can barely even have a normal conversation with her anymore!"

"Since when were you ever able to have a _normal_ conversation with Katie?" Whisper interjected in a blunt tone as he floated up behind his master.

The human boy glared at the ghost out of the corner of his eye, without lifting his head from the desk, "You know what I mean!" he groaned again, "Katie seems normal enough whenever I see her on my own, but I can barely get two words in before one or more of the other girls show up! Then Katie just gets these weird expressions and refuses to look me in the eye!" he glanced up with a slightly hopeful expression. "Wait… could she be jealous…?"

Whisper was quick to burst the boy's bubble, "Er, I don't think so Nate, I'm thinking what Katie is probably feeling lately when around your 'harem,' is more along the lines of… _disgust_."

At the idea of Katie being disgusted with him, Nate's mood dropped even further, the boy's expression turning to one of pure sorrow, but he quickly shook his head with denial, getting up from his chair and glaring directly at his butler, "No! That's not it! If that were the case, Katie wouldn't have invited me to come over to her house today!" the boy forced a smile, turning away from the yo-kai and giving a hopeful sigh, "And we'll have a lot of fun together, without any stupid 'harem' to ruin it!"

"She invited you over because you're her friend, but she can still be disgusted by you having a harem," Whisper pointed out.

Nate chose to ignore the butler, continuing to fantasize about spending one-on-one time with Katie.

"Would you both stop it with all this made-up 'harem' junk!" a certain cat yo-kai grunted from a curled-up position on the bed, getting up with a bit of stretch, before glaring at the two others. "How long exactly are you going to keep up with this gag? Do you really expect me to believe _Nyate_ has a harem?"

"Oh, how I wish it _was_ all made-up…" Nate muttered to himself as his shoulder's slumped, being brought out of his 'Katie fantasy' by mention of the 'harem.' "I still can't fathom how this occurred without yo-kai interference…"

"For once, you and I are on the same page in that regard, Nate," Whisper nodded, before he crossed his arms thoughtfully, "Hmm… perhaps it could be because of puberty?"

Nate looked at Whisper like he was crazy, "_Puberty_?"

Whisper did a twirl in the hair with a proud smile, "Yes, that could be it!" the spectral servant floated over to the human, doing a few circles around him before settling in front of him. "You see Nate, your friendly, yet overly average, demeanor is pretty boring to a young girl!"

"_Thanks_, I needed that," the yo-kai watch user deadpanned.

"Let me finish!" the pillowy ghost snapped, before letting out a small cough and regaining his dignified posture, "Now, while that kind of persona may be boring to many young girls, from the perspective of an adult woman whom is looking to settle down, it is actually fairly desirable!"

Nate kept staring at his butler, "Okay, I'm pretty sure you don't actually know what you're talking about, but; _adult_!? We're in _elementary_ school!" the boy's face scrunched a bit, "Also, I have no idea if you were trying to insult me there or not…"

"I have _never_ insulted you, Nathan," Whisper huffed.

"Aha,_ sure_ you haven't," Nate didn't look convinced. "Look, I don't think 'puberty' could be used to explain such a drastic change in so many– "

"Oh Lord Enma, are you two _still_ talking about this fake-harem nyonsense!?" Jibanyan practically shouted as he jumped to his feet. "You're nyot fooling me! And if you intend to keep this up, kindly leave!"

"It's _my_ room," Nate gave the nekomata an annoyed look, before he shook his head, "But, I need to start heading to Katie's house anyway." The boy gained a hopeful smile once more as thoughts of spending time with Katie returned to him.

"Whatever, so long as I can nyap in peace!" Jibanyan grumbled as he curled back up in his spot on the bed.

Nate gave the cat yo-kai one last annoyed look, before exiting the room, followed by Whisper.

Once the door closed, the feline gave a pleased purr, "Finyally, nyow that I'm alone I can get back to that nyap."

However, the sound of the closet door sliding open reminded the nekomata that he wasn't actually alone…

Peeking out of the confined space, Hidabat glanced around, his ears twitching a bit, "Did I hear something about Nate having a… 'harem?'"

Jibanyan gave the bat yo-kai a flat look, "Where have you been? Nyate and Whisper have been going on and _on_ about this fake 'harem' junk all week!"

Hidabat just stared blankly at Jibanyan, before he ducked back into the closet, shutting the door behind him.

Jibanyan gave a grunt, moving to return to his napping position… only for his ears to be assaulted by the repetitive sound of Hidabat typing on his computer, "Oh _come onnn_…!"

* * *

"Bye mom, bye dad!" Nate waved to his parents after exiting the home, walking down the porch and onto the sidewalk.

"Have fun at Katie's, Nate!" Nate's mother; Lily Adams, waved cheerfully.

"I will!" Nate called back with a wide smile, before his mother closed the door, and he started headed towards the Forester household.

Once Nate was out of sight, the form of a young girl came down from the sidewalk opposite of where he had gone.

"My Natey-kins will be so happy that I came to visit him on the weekend!" Megan Jones giggled as she skipped towards the Adams home. The young girl put a hand to her cheek, blushing as her grin widened, "I wonder what he'll say when he sees me? Oh, what if he proposes to me right then and there!"

Meg let out a small squeal, putting her face into her hands while she excitedly shuffled in place for a moment, before she eventually calmed down and broke free from her fantasy. "I can't stand waiting to see him any longer!" quickening her pace, the aspiring pop star bounded up to the front door of her beloved's home, knocking on the door. "My Natey-kins, wait no more to hold me in your arms! For your lovely shining star has come!"

However, the person whom answered the door was not Nate, but rather his mother, whom stared down at the young girl with a slightly confused expression. "Oh, hello Megan, what brings you here?"

The girl's eyes opened wide when she saw whom had opened the door, before she shook her head and gave a charming smile, "Hello Mrs. Adams! It's very nice to see you!" peeking past the adult woman, Meg eagerly scanned the inside of the house, "Is Nate upstairs? Could you please get him for me?"

Moving aside to allow the girl into the house, Lily gave the girl a sympathetic smile, "Oh, I'm sorry Megan, you just missed Nate, he went over to Katie's house."

Meg gawked at that revelation, "Katie's!? He's with Katie!?" a slight growl escaped the young girl's mouth, before she stomped one of her feet on the ground. "No! That's not fair, he's supposed to go on a date with _me_!"

"Date…? I'm sorry, did you Nate agree to go on a… date with you?" the mother looked unsure how to feel about the various prospects going through her head at that moment.

Meg covered her mouth at her outburst, before shaking her head and doing her best to give the woman she hoped would someday be consider her mother-in-law her most innocent disappointed look, "Well, no, he didn't know he was supposed to go on a date with me… But I was gonna ask him, and then we would go out and he'd become my boyfriend! And then we'd get married and live happily ever after!"

Lily's worried look faded at Meg's childish explanation, a fond smile replacing it as she chuckled, "Aww, well now that's just adorable. I'm sorry Megan, Nate's going to be at Katie's for a few hours, but you're more than welcome to wait for him here and ask him on this 'date' when he gets back."

Meg contemplated her options, on one hand; she wanted to storm off and barge into Katie's house and drag _her_ 'Natey-kins' away from that 'homewrecker,' on the other hand; that probably wouldn't look too good, and here she had a great opportunity to endear herself to Nate's parents, and gain a huge advantage in the battle for his love…

Making her decision, Meg gave Nate's mom a bright smile, "I would _love_ that Mrs. Adams, I hope Nate has fun at Katie's, and when he gets back, he'll be so happy to see me! I just know it!"

Lily smiled back, patting Meg on the head as she gave another chuckle, "I'm sure he will, Megan, I'm sure he will." As she walked further into the house, into the living room where Nate's father was seated on the couch. "Your parents know you're here, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want to worry my mommy and daddy," the pigtailed girl assured with a nod, internally cheering at how much Nate's mom seemed to be taking a liking to her.

"Oh, now who's this? One of Nate's classmates… Megan?" Nate's father, Aaron Adams, questioned from the couch.

Meg smiled, bowing to the man, "Yes, that's me; hello Mr. Adams, I'm here to wait for Nate so I can ask him out on a date, and he can become my boyfriend!"

Aaron had a similar reaction to his wife, "Aw, so Nate's found himself a little girlfriend now! And such a cutie too," the man chuckled, putting aside his newspaper. "You'll take care of my son now, won't you Megan?"

"Of course, Mr. Adams, I love Nate with all my heart, and I am going to marry him!" Meg did a twirl and giggled.

Both Aaron and Lily smiled, fondly laughing.

Meg's smile subtly turned to a smirk, '_Check and mate!_'

Walking over to the kitchen, Lily glanced back over at the girl, whom quickly shifted back to an innocent expression, "Would our 'future-Mrs. Adams' like any snacks while she waits?"

"Yes please, _current_-Mrs. Adams, I would love– "Meg's confirmation was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, having her stiffen a bit.

"Oh, honey, could you get that?" Lily called out to her husband.

"Of course, I wonder who it could be," Aaron nodded, getting up from the couch and heading towards the front door.

Meg stared after the man with wide eyes, realizing who it likely was at the door, and that it could throw a wrench into her plans…

"Now, Megan, what sort of snacks– "

"My sweet Nate, your princess has come for you!" Maya suddenly announced, charging into the room with a flourishing motion, a stunned Aaron following her.

"Hold on Maya, I was trying to tell you that Nate isn't here!"

"Now, Nate, I… huh?" Maya blinked, processing what the man she hoped would someday be consider her father-in-law said, "My Nate's not here…?"

Meg twitched, glaring at the other girl, "_Your_ Nate!?"

Maya noticed the other girl, and immediately took an aggressive stance, "Meg!? What are you doing here!? No, wait, don't tell me!" the brown-haired girl held up a fist as she growled, "You're trying to steal my Nate!"

"He's not _your_ Nate, he's _my_ Natey-kins!" Meg snapped, before she noticed how Nate's parents were looking, and quickly covered her mouth.

"W-Wait a second, what's going on…?" Lily questioned with a blank look.

"Stop calling him 'Natey-kins,' _You_ don't get to call _my_ future husband pet-names!" Maya snapped, stomping her foot on the ground, before she too noticed the stares from Nate's parents. "… Uhhh…"

Meg noticed her rival's pause, before she suddenly had an _evil _thought, turning away from Maya and covering her eyes, Meg began to cry, "Boohoo! I'm sorry Maya! I knew you liked Nate, but I came to ask him on a date anyway, I love him too, but I shouldn't have gone behind your back, boohoo-hoo!"

Maya stared at Meg blankly, before she noticed the strange looks that Nate's parents were giving them, and realized she completely looked like the bad guy here! '_Meg, you rat!_'

"I'm not really sure what's going on right now, did you come here to see Nate too, Maya?" Lily questioned, looking unsurely between the two girls, primarily focusing on Meg with a bit more concern.

"That's what she said, she barged in before I could tell her he wasn't home," Aaron said, glancing towards the crying Meg as well.

Maya clenched her teeth, before quickly decided if she didn't want Nate's parents to see her as some mean girl, she would need to do damage control, and fast! Moving over to Meg, she placed a comforting hand on her friend/rival's shoulder, "It-It's alright, Meg, I'm sorry I lost my temper! I know you like Nate just as much as me, and you have every right to go see him!"

Not expecting Maya to have caught on to what she was doing, Meg had no choice but to go along with the apology, "Oh, really Maya?" wiping her eyes of her crocodile tears, Meg gave a smile that she made sure Nate's parents could see, "I'm still sorry too, I just really wanted to become boyfriend and girlfriend with Nate and eventually marry him!"

"I know, but I want to marry him too!" Maya nodded, trying to smile and restraining the anger she felt at Meg's comments.

Meg bit back a snide comment, "Yes… I suppose the only thing we can do is both ask him on a date, and see whom he likes better?" '_That will be me!_'

Maya nodded, restraining any insulting comments she might have wanted to say, "Y-Yes, that's the only option, no hard feelings no matter which of us he picks, right?" '_Don't go overboard with the crying when he picks me!_'

"Of course!" Meg nodded, giving a cheerful grin which was reflected by Maya as they shook hands.

Both Aaron and Lily seemed to buy the act, their worried looks giving way to calm smiles as they watched the two girls.

"Well… I'm rather shocked to see that there are actually _two_ lovely girls whom are so interested in my Nate," Lily said, glancing between the two, "But I am happy to see the both of you haven't let it ruin your friendship, even if you have some tense moments."

"Oh, of course," Meg nodded quickly.

"We would never let something as silly as a _boy_ ruin our friendship!" Maya chuckled, putting a hand to her cheek as she turned a bit red, "No matter how _cute_ he may be…"

Meg sent Maya an aside glare but said nothing and quickly smile when she saw Nate's parents looking at her again.

"Well… I suppose you can stay here and wait for Nate too, Maya," Lily assured, before glancing over at her husband, "What do you think honey."

Aaron shrugged as he returned to the couch, picking up his newspaper from the coffee table, "I don't see why not, though Nate's probably going to have a tough time choosing between two pretty girls like yourselves, so don't put too much pressure on him for a quick answer," the man chuckled while he sat down.

"Of course, Mr. Adams!" Maya and Meg both chimed in unison, subtly glaring at each other.

Lily and Aaron shared another chuckle.

"Now than, how about those snacks?" the mother smiled, turning back to the kitchen.

Before any answer could be given, another knock was heard at the door.

Both Meg and Maya froze with dread while the parents shared a confused look…

* * *

"This is going to be great…" Nate spoke in a dreamy tone as he walked up to the door of the Forest household. "Just me and Katie…"

"I think you mean 'Katie and I,'" Whisper corrected.

Nate paused before knocking on the door, giving his butler an irritated look, "You know, you didn't _have_ to come with me."

"Nonsense! Where would you be without my ever-present guidance, Nathan!" Whisper exclaimed proudly as he continued to hover in place.

"I can only wonder…" Nate grumbled, turning away from the ghost and knocking on the door.

When the door opened to reveal a smiling Katie, Nate was right back to his dreamy state. "H-Hi Katie…"

"Hey Nate, glad you could make it!" Katie greeted kindly, moving aside to allow Nate entrance to her home. "My mom and dad are out right now but make yourself at home."

Nate walked into the home, letting out a happy sigh, '_Spending time with Katie, no stupid harem or anything to ruin it…_'

"Come on, let's head up to my room," Katie insisted, heading up the stairs.

Nate quickly followed her; however his smile fell when they had reached her room, and she opened the door.

"Guys, look who showed up!" Katie cheered to the other two occupants of her room, Eddie sitting on the bed, and Bear standing in the corner.

"Oh, hey Nate!" Eddie waved with a smile.

"'Bout time you got here," Bear chuckled with a wave.

Nate stared at the two for a moment, "What… what are you guys doing here?"

At that question, the two boy's look confused.

"What do you mean? Katie invited us, just like you…" Eddie pointed out with a quizzical look.

Nate stared for a few seconds longer.

Noticing the awkwardness, Katie gave a sheepish chuckle, "Nate, did I forget to mention that you weren't the only one I was inviting to this little get-together."

"Yeah, you did forget to mention that…" Nate muttered with a blank expression as he stepped into the room.

"Sorry about that, I was sure I told you…" Katie shrugged, trying to wave of her mistake with a few awkward chuckles.

Suddenly the sound of the doorbell rang through the house, drawing Katie's attention.

"Oh, that must be the others!" Katie smiled, before waving to the three boys and moving out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Be right back!"

Nate sighed as his shoulder's slumped, his dreams of spending one-on-one time with Katie shattered.

"I could have predicted this, it really does make more sense than Katie only inviting you over," Whisper commented, floating over his master's shoulder.

"Then why _didn't_ you," Nate growled under his breath, glaring at Whisper out of the corner of his eye. He let out another defeated sigh.

"What's wrong, Nate? You that disappointed to not be alone with Katie?" Bear question with a devious chuckle.

Eddie snickered, "Yeah, you already have that whole _harem_ of yours, you need Katie's attention _too_?"

Nate gave his male friends an annoyed look, "Please don't bring _that_ up, I don't particularly like all the attention I've been getting and was hoping that I would have an opportunity to get away from it all today."

Both Eddie and Bear chuckled a bit.

"Hey, don't worry Nate, whatever weird nonsense has been going on at school's not gonna happen here!" Bear assured, walking over to Nate and patting him on the back.

Eddie nodded with a laugh, before a look of realization crossed his eyes, "Wait… Katie said there were more people she invited, and aside from us… whom would Katie invite…?"

Nate and Bear both stared at their friend, his words sinking in.

"Alright, that makes everyone!" Katie announced as she opened the door. "Guys, Alex and Sarah are here!"

The three boys turned stiffly as two more smiling girls walked into the room after Katie, their smiles widening and eyes lighting up when they focused on Nate…

* * *

Lily Adams opened the front door, looking down with an unsure smile at the nervous girl, "Oh, hello Shelly… I assume you're here to see Nate?"

"Um… yeah," the shy girl nodded, shuffling her feet a bit and turning her blushing face towards the ground.

Lily let out a bit of a sigh, before she moved, "He's not here, but you're welcome to wait with the others…"

Shelly looked disappointed at the fact that Nate wasn't home, but paused when she fully processed what the mother had said, "Wait… others?"

Walking into the home and over to the living room, Shelly was surprised to find Meg, Maya and Lulu sitting on the couch, each with their arms crossed and trying not to look at each other, along with Lina and Zoey sitting in front of the couch, playing some kind of console game on the TV.

Aaron walked over to his wife, noticing Shelly and giving an unsure smile, "Oh, another one… well, make yourself at home, I suppose."

Shelly looked between Nate's parents, "Um… o-okay, th-thank you…" nodding, the bespectacled girl went to join the others.

A sudden knock on the door had a pair of exacerbated sighs escaped from the two adults, as it was clear this wasn't going to end any time soon…

* * *

"So, I've been thinking about things we can do together, as friends," Katie smiled as she looked through some of her things while Eddie and Bear stood back with interest.

The occupants of the other side of the room, however, were too focused on other things to pay Katie any mind.

Mainly, the two other girls were completely focused on Nate, while Nate was fearfully focused on the two girls as he tried to keep a steady distance from them…

"Nate, why do you look so scared?" Alex asked with a playful grin, approaching the boy, to which he stepped an equal amount back.

"Yeah, don't you_ like_ us?" Sarah asked with a sneaky smirk before she and Alex shared a giggle.

"C-Come on guys, can we _not_ do this here and now?" Nate tried to plead as he was backed up to a wall. "This is Katie's thing, and I don't want to ruin it."

"I don't see how a little _romance_ will ruin anything," Alex chuckled insistently, coming up close to Nate's left side and taking hold of his arm.

"And I don't see why Katie should care if_ I _want to take a little time to shower _my_ future-boyfriend with some attention," Sarah insisted, moving to the boy's right side and grabbing his free arm.

"I think you mean_ our_ future-boyfriend, Sarah," Alex chimed with a snicker, hugging the nervous Nate's arm in a gentle manner.

Sarah's face turned blank, and Nate could almost swear he heard a record scratching to a stop…

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'our…?'" Sarah questioned in a disbelieving tone.

Alex gave her friend a strange look, "Uh, yeah? Didn't we agree we were gonna share him?"

"What? Share? What are you talking about? _Who shares a boyfriend_!?" Sarah nearly yelled, gripping Nate's right arm tightly.

Nate gulped fearfully as the atmosphere of the room seemed to get tense, and the others finally took note of what was going on…

"Oh, come on guys!" Katie called out with a distraught expression.

Bear gave an annoyed glare towards the boy, "Looks like Nate's having his own little '_get-together_' going on right now."

Eddie just sighed while shaking his head.

Neither Alex, nor Sarah, seemed to notice the new attention.

"We were going to share Nate, and both be his girlfriends, wasn't that the plan!?" Alex questioned with a glare, lightly tugging on Nate's left arm.

"NO! That is _not_ what we agreed to!" Sarah protested, tugging a bit forcefully on the boy's right arm, "We agreed to not get in each other's way! _How_ does that translate to us _both_ being his girlfriends!?"

"So, what was your plan exactly? Just have us both competing over him while also attempting to 'not get in each other's way?' How do you even do that!? Both of us going after him would be 'getting in each other's way!'"

Katie let out a long groan, turning to her bed and flopping onto it face first, "All they care about is _Naaaate_…"

Bear gave a sympathetic look to Katie, before he sent an annoyed one 'harem protagonist's' way, "Come on Nate, turn _off_ the 'harem effect,' or whatever it is! You're ruining Katie's time!"

"Yeah man, get this under control," Eddie said with a disappointed expression.

Nate sent the other two boys an incredulous look as he was pulled back and forth by the arguing girls, "What exactly am I supposed to _do_!? _Turn it off_!? If I knew how to do that, this wouldn't be– "

"Nate told me he thinks you're an unattractive tomboy!" Sarah suddenly shouted as she harshly pulled Nate over to her and cradled his head.

"What!?" the 'average' boy gawked at that sudden, completely false, statement.

Alex yanked Nate back, hugging his head into her chest while she glared at Sarah, "Oh yeah, well he called _you_ a boring bookworm!"

"Huh!?" Nate looked up in shock of the second untrue statement, struggling to escape from Alex's grip.

"Let go of him! Can't you see he doesn't like that!" Sarah protested, trying to pull Nate away from her athletic friend.

"No, you let go! Can't you see you're hurting him!?" Alex pulled back.

Nate gave a pained whine as his arms were practically stretched out by the two girls.

Katie gave another moan, but the cries of Nate had her looking up from her bed, noticing the bad moods of Eddie and Bear, the conflicting state of Sarah and Alex, as well as how Nate was clearly in pain with an expression that was practically _begging_ for somebody to help him, the girl put on a brave face as she pulled herself back up. "Alright, everyone please calm down! This is my house and– "

Before Katie could finish her sentence, some sparking suddenly emitted from her computer, and an unseen force zoomed out and took position by her, spreading its influence over her.

Katie Forester froze up for moment, her eyes having a blank look as she seemed to have forgotten what she was even saying.

Eddie, Bear, Nate, and even Alex and Sarah, all looked towards Katie with concern at her sudden 'shut-down,' unsure how to respond.

Though before anyone could voice this concern, Katie seemed to regain the life in her eyes, smiled widely… and gave a loud, obnoxious, laugh, "Oh man, you guys all look like TOTAL loserz! LOLZ!"

The reaction to this was almost instantaneous by all occupants, "WHAT!?"

Katie snorted, giving her friends an arrogant smirk, "What's got all you in a tizzy? You all have too low of a collective IQ to come up with any good combacks? LOLZ, LOSERZ!"

"K-Katie…?" Nate gaped at the sudden behavioral change of his closest female friend, able to slip out of Sarah and Alex's grips due to them both being just as stunned.

"W-What's going…?" Sarah questioned, her worry for Katie overwhelming her desire for Nate at that moment.

"Katie, is-is that you?" Alex asked, in a similar state as Sarah.

Katie rose a brow, giving her worried friends a strange look, "Seriously, what's with you noobs? You need to run home to your mommies to get a diaper change or something?" she laughed a bit behind her hand.

Bear looked unsure of what to say as he stared at the girl, before he glanced at Eddie, "What's wrong with Katie…?"

"She-she's broken, this… has broken her…" Eddie muttered with a dark expression, directed towards Nate, Sarah and Alex.

"Gah!?" Nate jumped back, already seeing where this was going (and he was fairly certain that the reason for Katie's behavioral change came from elsewhere…)

"What, you can't think this is because we were fighting over Nate!" Alex protested strongly, apparently having caught on as well.

Sarah nodded, "Katie _knew_ we both liked him and invited us all anyway, she would have expected this kind of thing!"

"Well… you guys did kind of ignore her in favor of fighting over me…" Nate muttered under his breath, before he noticed the attention from all parties now being directed at him. The brunette boy started to sweat nervously, "Er… I have to go to the bathroom!" with a quick bow, Nate zoomed out into the hallway.

Seeing that one of (and, if at least Eddie was to be honest, the least guilty) the 'perpetrators' had fled, the two remaining boys turned their glares to the 'harem girls,' whom reaffirmed their offensive stances.

* * *

"My turn!" Chelsea smiled as she sat on the floor of the Adams' living room in a circle with Meg, Lulu, Maya, Shelly, and Natalie, seemingly having a pleasant time in each other's company, despite the overarching rivalry between all of them.

"Alright, here you go!" Natalie smiled, passing the origami 'fortune telling' construct known as a 'cootie-catcher' to the other girl.

Chelsea smiled as she held the paper object, "Okay," she looked thoughtful as she thought about her question, while the other girls all looked on eagerly, Chelsea's smile widen, "I got it!" looking down at cootie-catcher, the short-haired girl suppressed a giggle as her face reddened, "Who's my soulmate?"

The girls all watched intently as Chelsea shuffled the paper device, before she opened it up to see the answer.

Chelsea's smile and blush both intensified, before she gave her companions a cheerful look, "It says; 'Nathan Adams!'"

The six girls all burst into giggles at that concluded answer.

"Wow, that's the same answer as who will be my 'future husband!'" Meg smiled dreamily with her hands to her cheeks.

"And the same I got for my 'knight in shining armor,'" Lulu cooed as she rocked a bit in place.

"Nate's also who I got for my best possible boyfriend!" Natalie gave an affectionate sigh.

"Wow, Nate's sure going to be busy in the future!" Chelsea grinned, before the girls all shared another giggle.

"Alright, my-my turn next," Shelly spoke up carefully, holding out her hands.

"Here you go, Shelly!" Chelsea obliged, handing off the cootie-catcher to the glasses-wearing girl.

Looking at the paper device with a slightly nervous smile, Shelly gained a slightly thoughtful look, "Now, what should I ask… oh, I know!" Shelly nodded in approval of her own idea, "Who is my prince charming?"

Lina and Zoey watched as the 'game' continued, snacking on some cookies Mrs. Adams had apparently baked the day before, which she said were fine to eat, not surprised at all when the answer to Shelly's question came up as 'Nathan Adams' and how the girls all burst into giddy giggles once more.

Swallowing the last bite of a cookie, Zoey couldn't help but roll her eyes at the other girls' behavior, "Seriously? They_ must_ know it's rigged to _always_ say 'Nathan Adams,' right? They _made it_ that way!"

"The human mind is an amazing thing…" Lina said in a mysterious tone, nibbling a bit from a cookie she held, "Even if they're making fortunes that will contradict each other in the long-run, they like having that bit of assurance that they'll be the one to 'win' Nate." The blue-haired girl leaned back in her seat a bit, taking another nibble from her cookie, "And, despite the rivalry they all hold with each other, they like that, in this moment, they have others to share their desire and enthusiasm of the ideas with."

Zoey gave her fellow Ghost Club member a blank stare for a moment, "… Ahuh…" looking over at the other girls again, snorted a bit at how they had fallen into _another_ giggling fit, she shook her head before turning back to Lina, "You know what's _really_ amazing?" grabbing the second-to-last cookie from the plate, the black-haired girl stuffed it in her mouth, "These cookies! Mrs. Adams is an amazing cook!"

Lina couldn't help but smile at that statement as she lay claim to the final cookie, "Yeah, she is."

Zoey swallowed, letting out a happy hum as she savored the taste, "I sure hope Nate inherited some of her skills! It would be great to have a husband that could greet us with food equal or greater to these when we get home from a hard day of being professional paranormal investigators!"

Lina put her hands to her cheeks, a visible blush appearing, "Oh, Zoey, you're getting me all tingly at that thought," glancing over at the other girls briefly, the spooky girl allowed herself a smirk, "The others don't stand a chance, do they Zoey? There's no doubt about it!"

Zoey nodded with an identical smirk, "Of course, there is absolutely no doubt of the end results of this mission!"

The two Ghost Club girls' eyes gleamed as they spoke in unison, "_We_ are the ones whom shall be Nate's girlfriends, and eventual brides!" chuckling eerily, the two shared a tight hug in celebration of their shared declaration.

Glancing down from up the stairs at the living room full of young girls, Lily let out a worried sigh as she came back up to meet with her similarly worried husband, "Well, they've calmed down a bit at least, still…"

"You can't help but wonder when our boy got this popular," Aaron did his best to give a reassuring smile as he hugged his wife from behind.

"Maybe, I always knew my baby would start gaining attention from girls eventually… but this soon? And this _many_?" Lily shook her head.

"It's the Adams family charm, you know how it is," Aaron chuckled a bit awkwardly, clearly not fully believing his own explanation. The man gave a sigh as he realized the assurance wasn't working, "Don't worry, Lily, no matter how many girls are interested in him, Nate's still our son, he's still your baby. That will never change…"

The bespectacled woman leaned into her husband's comforting embrace, giving a small smile, "I suppose you're right, but still… it's so strange," her smile twitched a slight bit, worry evident in her eyes, "I hope… it's not too much for him to handle…"

Aaron gave a more confident chuckle, "Don't worry honey, he's an Adams, he can handle anything that comes his way!"

* * *

"Whisper help me! I _can't_ handle all this!" Nate cried out as he stood in the hallway, pulling his yo-kai butler over and peeking back into Katie's room, careful not to let any of the occupants see him.

"What are you talking about now, Nate?" Whisper questioned with a slightly surprised expression.

"Aside from the fact that Sarah and Alex were fighting over me and ruining Katie's mood, now Katie's acting really weird! I'm sure there's a yo-kai causing it, which is just one _more_ problem!"

Looking into the room, Whisper was met with the site of Sarah and Alex arguing with Eddie and Bear, while Katie was just laughing at them, giving an occasional snort.

Shaking his head, the yo-kai butler turned back to his master with an unimpressed look, "Nate, really? You expect me to believe that this is a yo-kai's doing? When it's completely obvious that the reason for this behavioral shift is due to your 'harem magnetism' and how her female friends seem to care nothing for her now!"

Nate just gave an annoyed glare, "… Why did I think you would be helpful?" giving a huff, the boy started shining his yo-kai watch's light into the room.

Whisper was quick to take offense to that comment, "Excuse me!? Nathan, I know you're going through some confusing times, but you are clearly deflecting your own problems to– "

"There it is," Nate quietly exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" Whisper's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw the light catch onto a shadow, before a the yo-kai's form was revealed.

What came into vision was some small, yellow creature, with glasses, slicked-back brown-hair, freckles, buck teeth and carrying a book. He was essentially dressed like a stereotypical 'nerd,' or what the media would depict such a character as, and his lower half was stuck in a computer monitor that floated in mid-air.

"Oh, oh man, this girlz on fire, LOLZ," the yo-kai snorted as he continued to float around Katie, and she continued to act on his inspiritment. "She's gonna pwn all these noobz for sures!"

Whisper looked away with an innocent whistle as Nate glared at him, before the yo-kai butler quickly took out his yo-kai pad and identified their maker of mischief. "Hold om, erm… Aha!" turning back towards the room with a dramatic flair, Whisper pointed at the yo-kai, "That's the yo-kai Indexter!"

**Shady Tribe: Indexter**

"Indexter…" Nate's expression was one of offense at the idea of such a yo-kai inspiriting Katie.

"Yes," Whisper nodded, holding up his yo-kai pad to read the description, "Those inspirited by Indexter become complete 'internet trolls,' even in real life! I'm talking unprovoked confrontation, poor grammar, and possibly even…" the yo-kai gave a shudder as he read the last bit, "'leetspeak!'"

Nate's glare intensified, "We can't let someone like _that_ ruin Katie's reputation, I need to– "

"Alright NOOBZ, if you're going to be all intense, and dumb, then we'll do this my way!" Katie announced loudly as she marched passed the two duos, towards the door.

Nate's eyes widened, before he jumped back and headed downstairs, towards the bathroom.

"Nate, hold up!" Whisper followed quickly.

* * *

"I've got the latest and greatest video game that's going to decide everything!" Katie announced proudly as she stomped down the stairs, followed by the other four. As she came down the last step, she noticed Nate coming out of the bathroom and laughed, "Oh, Mr. No-personality-chick-magnet! Did you finish changing your diaper?"

Nate stared at his inspirited crush awkwardly, choosing not to acknowledge that comment.

"Never mind!" Katie suddenly shouted, heading towards the television. "Let me just get the game! LOLZ! All ya noobs don't stand a chance! I'll pwn you all!"

"K-Katie!?" Eddie practically whimpered as he stared at the girl.

"This is all Nate's fault," Bear grumbled with crossed arms, glaring at said boy out of the corner of his eye.

Eddie didn't completely agree with his friend, but he didn't have the energy to argue at this point…

"Katie's still crazy Nate, got any ideas?" Sarah asked worriedly as she and Alex stepped over to their mutual crush.

"Yeah man, I don't know if it was because of us fighting over you and, um…" Alex awkwardly blushed and averted her eyes from the boy, "Er… maybe we _did_ go a bit overboard there…"

"You think," Sarah grunted, glaring at Alex, before she sighed and turned back to the boy, "Nate… we like you, you know this, but Katie _is_ our friend, and… we're really worried."

"What are you crybabies crybabying about!? Get a controller, I'll whoop all of ya! LOLZ!" Katie shouted as she looked over at the three, handing a controller each to Eddie and Bear, whom didn't look particularly enthusiastic to play.

"Nate… is it really us that caused this?" Sarah asked with a slight whimper.

Giving a bit of a nervous cough, Nate pulled away from the two girls, brushing his clothes a bit, "Er… I can't say for certain, but… no, I don't think it was you who did it," turning away, the boy muttered under his breath, "Though how loudly you were fighting over me while Katie was trying to be a good host probably didn't help her mood…" shaking his head, Nate stepped forward, "Just… both of you stay back, I can't explain it, but I think I can help Katie…"

Both Alex and Sarah looked unsure of that statement but decided to trust their crush and stepped back with a couple of nods.

Letting out a heavy breath, Nate gripped his yo-kai watch, walking over to the couch, where Katie was now laughing sitting between the distraught Eddie and Bear, while colorful characters on the screen seemed to be playing on a giant board game.

"Come on, the rest of ya! Join whenever you want so I can PWN you too! LOLZ!" Katie arrogantly laughed as she mashed the buttons of her controller.

"What even are we doing…?" Bear muttered, the controller hanging loosely in his hand.

"Just let her win, Bear, maybe it will help…" Eddie whispered back, letting out an unhappy sigh.

Hiding behind the couch, Nate focused his attention on Indexter, whom was floating just behind Katie. Reaching up, the boy grabbed the yellow yo-kai by the computer monitor and pulled him down.

"Hey, what the!?" Indexter cried out at the sudden movement, before he saw Nate, "Oh, so you can see me? What do you want, noob?" the yo-kai chuckled with a few snorts.

Nate's eye twitched in annoyance, before he pointed up at the ponytailed girl, "My friend Katie, stop inspiriting her," he hissed to keep the others from overhearing.

Indexter picked up an unseen ear, before he let out another snort, "Erm, let me think… NO!" he laughed at Nate's dumbfounded expression. "You think I'm gonna let a cutie like that go so easily!? You wish, loser! LOL!"

Nate let out a few breaths, before he shook his head and pulled out a yo-kai medal, "You know, I normally would try a _little_ more to get you to see reason, but… this day was already ruined before you showed up, I don't have much patience right now," the boy snarled, before he popped the medal into the yo-kai watch model U without even announcing whom it was.

"**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE CHARMING TRIBE!**" the watch announced as the appropriate summoning song played, and a familiar cat yo-kai appeared.

"Jibanyan!" the nekomata announced, landing on the ground and looking between Nate and Indexter, with a grunt, he slapped Nate in the face.

"Ow, Jibanyan," Nate hissed quietly, rubbing his face.

"When I told you to leave, I thought you would get the message that I didn't want to be summoned or disturbed," the cat yo-kai grunted, before he turned to focus on his supposed-opponent. "Nyow, what's this guy's deal?"

"He's an internet troll, so to speak," Whisper clarified as he hovered over. "Like the kind Hidabat often has to delete many an email from daily!"

Jibanyan didn't look impressed, "Really? Is _that_ all?"

Nate looked annoyed at Jibanyan's dismissal of the yo-kai inspiriting his crush, but before he could say anything, Indexter decided to open his mouth again.

"'Is that all?' Ha, that's rich calming from what looks to be just some_ lame_ cat-LOLZ!" Indexter laughed snidely.

Jibayan's body froze, his eyes going dark as he stared at Indexter, "What… did you call me?"

Indexter just laughed harder, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your feewings! Lamey-lame cat!" the computer-based yo-kai snorted loudly in laughter.

Jibanyan's body twitched; though he had long learned the truth of his death and what Amy had _actually_ said, it couldn't be helped that reminders of his mistaken memories still caused him emotional distress… though without the depression of thinking Amy really said that, it mostly just defaulted to _rage_… "You…" the nekomata snarled, his fangs showing. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S LAME!"

Indexter still laughed, until he noticed the enraged cat yo-kai lunging towards him, and suddenly he felt an overwhelming sense of dread, "Oh… I may have miscalculated…"

Both Nate and Whisper winced as they watched Jibanyan's assault on Indexter, eventually both had to look away, and try to block out the internet troll's cries of pain…

* * *

"I win, I– "Katie was cheering smugly, when an unseen aura faded from her body, and she finally found herself pausing in confusion. "Huh…" glancing to her left and right at the upset Eddie and Bear, "Guys… why are you so down? This is a party game, you know; who wins doesn't really matter, it's just supposed to be fun!"

Both boys immediately perked up at Katie's kind voice, staring at her in shock.

"Katie, you're back to normal!" Bear cried out happily.

"Unbelievable, she recovered so fast!" Eddie gave a wide, relived smile as both he and Bear dropped their controllers.

Katie just looked confused, before she noticed a slightly frazzled Nate rising from behind the couch, "Nate… what are you doing back there?"

The yo-kai watch-user let out a small cough, "It's… it's a long story," he shook his head, giving a gentle smile, "I'm happy you're okay…"

"Okay? What are you talking about?" Katie questioned blankly, before she glanced around, "Say, where are Alex and Sar– "

"NATE!" Alex and Sarah both cheered as they pounced on an unprepared Nate.

Katie stared at this, before she, Eddie and Bear all let out annoyed sighs.

"You were right, Nate!" Alex smiled brightly as she clung to the boy's left side.

"Katie's back! I don't know what you did, but she is!" Sarah cheered as she hugged Nate's right side.

Nate stiffened a bit with a nervous expression, which worsened when the two girls leaned forward and kissed him on both cheeks.

Bear looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, "What are you two talking about? Nate didn't do anything!" if Sarah or Alex heard Bear, neither showed it.

Jibanyan padded over with a wide-eyed expression, staring up at Nate in disbelief, "Wait, this 'harem' junk is _real_!?"

"Why else would we have been talking about it?" Whisper scoffed as he hovered by the cat.

Jibayan just gaped as he kept staring at Nate and the two girls cuddling his sides.

"H-Harem…?" a heavily injured Indexter with torn clothing, cracked glasses, and a sparking computer monitor floated up, staring at Nate with disbelief, "I don't believe it, you have an _actual harem_!?"

"How are you _conscious_!?" Whisper shouted, staring at Indexter with disbelief and a slight amount of horror.

Indexter ignored the butler's question, hovering over to Nate and dropping his medal on the ground before him, "Here you go, anyone who's able to pull off having a harem is definitely worthy of obtaining my medal! L-LOL…" the computer yo-kai let out a pained cough, before he waved, "I'll-I'll be on my way now," with a nod, Indexter shakily floated towards the window and, with a bit of a struggle, fazed through it.

Nate stared at the medal on the ground, before he kicked it, causing it to slide under Katie's couch, "I don't want to get a medal because of this STUPID HAREM!" Nate cried out in anguish, while Sarah and Alex obliviously snuggled him tighter, happily nuzzling their cheeks against his own.

"And back to ruining things," Bear muttered disapprovingly.

Eddie sighed, "Bear… just drop it."

Katie, very pointedly, tried not to look towards Nate, Sarah and Alex, or even acknowledge their existence…

* * *

"That was… not what I wanted at all…" Nate muttered with a sad sigh as he trudged back towards his home, Jibanyan and Whisper not far behind.

"Well, look at the bright side; you managed to convince Alex and Sarah not to follow you home," Whisper pointed out.

"And I'm sure Katie doesn't think you're a _complete_ scumbag," Jibanyan waved an encouraging paw.

"_Thanks_, what would I ever do without you guys," Nate grumbled sarcastically, refusing to look at the two yo-kai as he walked up his porch. "At least it's over…" he muttered as he opened the door, stepping into his house, hoping for some peace and quiet. "I'm home!" he called as he stepped into the living room.

"NATE! GO ON A DATE WITH ME!"

Before the boy could even process it, he was dogpiled by Meg, Maya, Lulu, Chelsea, and Natalie. He could also see a nervous Shelly staring at him from the corner of the room, and Lina and Zoey laughing at him from the couch.

The nearly crushed boy let out a whimper, and nearly felt like he might break down and cry at that moment, "Why… why are you all in my house…!?"

"MY BABY'S GROWING UP!" Nate's mother's crying, but proud, voice sounded from the kitchen where she stood with a wide smile, her hands clasped and tears streaming from her eyes. "Wait, can he breathe…? GIRLS, PLEASE GET OFF HIM!"

* * *

Over in Breezy Hills, in a certain apartment building, a yet to enter player in this 'harem game' was having a powerful debate on her current situation, and what she would do…

"Oh, Mr. Nathan Adams…" Hailey Anne Thomas cooed lovingly as she stared at a photo showing the two yo-kai watch-users along with their yo-kai companions, sitting happily on a Yo-kai World beach together; one of the few photos of the two together that Hailey had, and she was now wishing she had many more. "You are just _so cute_; I can hardly stand to be away from you!"

The purple-haired girl briefly considered running out of her home and rushing to the house of her new crush, but halted those thoughts, giving a look of determination and restraint.

"No, I can't just throw all my cards on the table! Not like this, and not without a plan," the girl adjusted her glasses, smiling fondly at the photo again, her cheeks tinted with the slightest bit of pink. "Nate… I love you, but why? I've never loved you before, I've admired you as the 'yo-kai master,' but that admiration has never turned romantic," the girl let out a forlorn sigh, clutching her hands to her chest.

"So, why?" doing a dramatic twirl, Hailey flopped onto her bed stomach-first, still staring at the photo. "There must be a logical explanation; nothing about _you_ has changed, and yet… through the past few days these feeling have been taking over my being, and all those other girls that– " Hailey paused, her eyes widening as she pulled up from the bed. "Eureka, that's it!"

Practically jumping to the other side of her room, Hailey did another twirl, planting a kiss onto the Nate in the photo, "It's so obvious, how did I not see it earlier!? Nathan Adams has become a harem protagonist!"

Chuckling madly, Hailey's glasses fogged over as she clutched her chest again, "That's why my emotions have gone so nuts, it is so common for the main heroine in a harem anime to be a member of the main hero's harem! And very often that heroine is the girl whom wins the hero's heart, provided it does not go for the 'harem ending…'" the hyper girl paused with that thought, crossing her arms contemplatively, "But… I cannot depend on the 'main heroine wins' cliché as a sure thing, I…"

Hailey paced around the room some more, looking conflicted, "I… if Nate chooses a girl, that means the harem would end, most likely; and these feelings may go away if it's not me… but I don't _want _these feelings to go away!" putting her hands to her heart, Hailey's face turned bright red as she let out a happy squeal, "I… I love the feeling of being _in love_!"

Flopping back onto her bed, this time on her back, Hailey let out a dreamy sigh, holding up the picture again, "Oh Nate, sweet, adorable Nate… I do not want to go back to thinking so little of you… _my_ Nate…" her eyes narrowing, a determined smile formed on the girl's face, "That's it!" jumping back up, she held a fist up proudly, "I'll use my knowledge of the harem genre to ensure that I will win! Nate will be mine! You hear me Usapyon!?"

The mentioned yo-kai looked up from polishing his blaster in the corner of the room, giving his human partner a deadpan look, "I haven't the foggiest clue what yer going on with, Hailey…"

* * *

Well that's a chapter, and I think it can be told that Nate's life isn't going to be getting any easier any time soon.

I would like to reiterate that this is a potentially endless, episodic story, based around the concept of Nate having to deal with the nonsense of having a harem, and there's no overarching plot or climax to build to.

That being said, the next few chapters are essentially in a sort of linear line of escalation.

Next chapter will be introducing Nate to the fact that the girls in Hailey's class are part of his 'harem' too.

The chapter after that will have him meeting Jibayan's old owner Amy, whom will be joining the harem as well, much to Jibanyan's chagrin. Amy has no official age, but I'm setting her here as thirteen here so it's not too weird, that might not jell entirely well with canon, but Amy isn't all too important to the plot aside from her part in Jibanyan's backstory, so making her a bit younger than she probably should be for the sake of the humor putting her in the harem would bring is worth it, for this story at least.

The chapter after that will be showing Nate that even yo-kai can fall victim to the dreaded 'harem effect.'

But after that? I have plot ideas for chapters, but they're just basic ideas, like a TV-guide's episode synopses, I don't know what order I'll put them in and how they'll be fleshed out, though I intend to keep continuity, so the order will matter.

Feel free to suggest any 'episode' plot ideas you may have, or any 'harem genre clichés' to parody.

Also, anyone have an idea for how to bring the female classmates from St. Peanutsburg into the harem without some excuse like 'they _all_ just happened to move to Springdale?'


	3. Nowhere is safe!

**Chapter 3: Nowhere is safe!**

* * *

The bell signaling the end of the school day rang throughout the halls of Springdale Elementary…

The silence that would normally follow was interrupted by one lone boy, Nate Adams, rushing through the halls in a panic. "KEEP UP WHISPER!"

"I'M TRYING!" the invisible-to-most butler shouted as he tried to keep pace with his human master.

Soon the halls started shaking, as a stampede of girls came chasing after the boy!

"NATE! WAIT UP!" the rambunctious 'harem' called as one while chasing the object of their collective affection.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Nate cried out as he ran around a corner. Seeing a broom closet, the boy did the best thing he could think to in order to escape the oncoming hoard; open it and jump inside, shutting the door behind him.

The boy tried to keep his breath steady as he heard the footsteps and voices of the various girls passing by, eventually followed by silence. Feeling safe in the dark closet, Nate allowed his breath to return to a more natural rate out of relief… before he heard breathing other than his own, on both sides of him. Nervously, the boy flicked on the light.

"Hi _Nate_!" Lina and Zoey greeted in creepy unison, pressing themselves against both his sides. "Fancy running into _you_ here…" the two eerily giggled into his ears.

With a fearful scream, Nate burst out of the closet, fleeing back towards the classroom, hoping that would be the safest place in the school at the moment.

But, when he made it back to the classroom, Nate was met with a sight that was_ almost_ as scary as the swarm of girls that had been chasing him…

"Hey _Nate_, nice to see you back…" an irritated looking Andy greeted the boy, several other disgruntled boys glaring at him from their spots around the classroom.

"Yeah, with all the_ fun_ you've been having with the girls, we hardly see you anymore…" Eric hissed dangerously.

Lucas, the only boy in the room whom didn't look angry, gave Nate a neutral expression, "… I'd run if I were in your shoes."

Nate didn't need to be told twice, quickly fleeing from the room, not bothering to look back if any boys were chasing him.

* * *

"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS!?" Nate cried as he fled in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Which do you mean? The endless affection of your female classmates, or the ire of your male ones?" Whisper questioned as he kept up with the running child. "Because, one implies one thing, and the other another!"

"SHUT UP WHISPER!" Nate shouted in anger, trying not to look at the butler as he kept running.

"Hmph, rude," Whisper huffed, still following the boy.

Opening the door to the cafeteria, the boy gave some heavy breaths as he tried to calm down.

"Natey-kins!"

Nate's pupils shrank as his body stiffened, '_NO! NOT __**HER**__!_'

Before the boy could turn to flee the room, he was pounced on by one of his most _amorous _admirers.

"I knew you'd come here to escape all those other annoying girls, Natey-kins! We're so perfect for each other, we practically share a telepathic link!" Meg cheered as she squeezed the fearful boy.

"M-Meg…" Nate whimpered, trying to escape from her grip.

"Yes, that's me; your super cute super star-to be!" Meg winked, quickly pecking the boy on the cheek, apparently not noticing his struggle to escape from her. "So, I'm sure you just want to get out of this school without any of those homewreckers getting in the way of _our_ romantic plans, so– "

"Natey-watey, there you are!" Lulu's voice suddenly shouted through the cafeteria, said girl coming through the door and rushing towards him and Meg. "Megan, let my Natey-watey go!"

"No, Natey-kins is mine!" the pigtailed girl stuck out her tongue childishly. "Also, what kind of pet name is 'Natey-watey!?' That sounds so dumb!"

"Not as dumb as 'Natey-kins!'" Lulu snapped, clinging to the opposite side of Nate as Megan. "Now let him go and leave us alone, he clearly wants me! Don't you Nate?"

"I don't want– "Nate tried to say but found himself unable to speak as he was yanked back and forth between the two aggressive girls. "GAAH!?"

Whisper shook his head as he watched the ensuing conflict, "So much of this could probably be avoided if you would just put your foot down and _tell_ all these girls you're not interested, Nate!"

"EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!" Nate shouted frantically, which went ignored by the two girls as they continued to pull on him.

"MINE!" Lulu managed to gain a sudden burst of strength, pulling the boy away from Meg.

"I'm pretty sure he came this way," Eddie suddenly spoke up, before he and Bear entered the cafeteria, "Nate, you here!?"

"Oh no…" Nate muttered seeing his two male friends enter, particularly the larger one, what with which girl currently had him in her grip…

"Oh, I see him!" Bear exclaimed, spotting Nate… just in time to see Lulu plant a kiss on one of Nate's cheeks… "Nate…" his expression shifted to a dark one as he growled in a low tone, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"It-it's not what you think!" Nate fearfully protested, trying to escape from Lulu's grip, just as Meg came running over and started trying to pull him back to her.

Eddie looked at Bear with a bit of fear himself, before he looked towards his struggling friend, "Um, Nate… I think you should get out of here…"

"NATE!" Bear shouted with rage as he started to stomp forward.

Nate screamed, and, with the strength of someone filled with a fear for their life, he managed to break free from the grips of Lulu and Meg and sped out of the cafeteria.

"NATE!" the two girls shouted as they started chasing their crush.

"NATE, COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!" Bear shouted, but his arm was grabbed by Eddie before he could.

"Man, calm down! CALM DOWN!"

Bear growled at Eddie, before he blinked, shaking his head, his expression returning to normal, "Huh… what happened? Where'd Nate go…?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, the smaller boy patted his friend on the shoulder, "It's nothing to worry about bud, Nate will be fine, let's just go home…"

* * *

"I just need to get out of this building!" Nate shouted desperately, running towards in the direction of the stairs, only to reel back and turn away when he noticed that a rather angry looking pair of Eric and Kenny were standing in the way. "NOPE!"

As he kept running, he somehow ended up being tailed by the entire swarm of girls once more.

"NATE! WAIT UP!"

"NO!" Nate cried out as he kept running.

"Wow, this isn't going well for you, is it?" Whisper commented, scratching the swirl on his head.

Nate ignored the yo-kai's comments, turning a corner in the hall again, before stopping to catch his breath against a classroom's door.

"There's no way to escape!" Nate whimpered as he backed against the door, hearing the footsteps coming, before it suddenly slid up and a hand pulled him inside, just in time for his ravenous harem to rush by…

* * *

"Huh…?" Nate blinked, finding himself inside a classroom, where most of the students were still getting their things together and preparing to leave. With a quick glance around, he realized he had ended up in Class 5-1…

"Wow, that was a close one!" the one whom had dragged the boy into the room exclaimed in a cheerful tone.

"Hailey…?" Nate blinked in surprise at his savior.

"Psych! Got it in one, oh great Yo-kai Master!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed with a cheerful hand-motion.

"Don't call me that," Nate grunted, turning away with a sigh.

Hailey's face turned a slight shade of red as she stared at Nate with a bit of a dreamy look for a moment, but she was quick to shake this state away before the boy turned back to her. "So, anyway…" Hailey let out a cough, before she smirked, "Maybe I shouldn't call you that, since from what I've heard, our _Yo-kai_ Master has graduated to _Harem_ Master!"

"SHHH!" Nate quickly covered the girl's mouth, his eyes shifting around at the other students of Class 5-1, though none of them seemed to be paying attention, to the boy's relief. Releasing Hailey from his grip, the boy gave a stern glare, "I'm not exactly happy with how things have been going…" the boy's anger diminished as he gave a bit of a relieved sigh, "But… at least you haven't changed…"

Hailey chuckled sheepishly with a quick nod, "Er, yup! I haven't changed at all, and I definitely don't think you're the cutest boy to ever walk the face of this earth, nope!"

"Wait, what…?" Nate blinked.

"Nothing, just a joke!" Hailey quickly assured while waving her hands.

"Huh…?" Nate looked confused but didn't seem suspicious.

"Yup, 'joke,' that makes sense…" an annoyed looking Usapyon commented as he leaned against one of the desks.

"What exactly do you mean by that tone?" Whisper questioned as he hovered over to the other yo-kai.

"Far as I know; nothin'," the spacesuit-wearing otter sighed, turning away and shaking his head.

"Anyway, your little 'harem problem' is certainly the talk of the school lately," Hailey commented to Nate with a mischievous giggle. "Some are saying no girl is safe from you!"

Nate groaned, turning away from the other yo-kai watch-holder, a few tears falling from his eyes, "I wanted to be known as something other than 'average,' but this is so much _worse_ than 'average!'"

"I'll say, though I wonder how much truth there is to it…" Hailey commented, internally thinking about how she was going to test out her little hypothesis…

"Nate, what are you doing here?" Hailey's best friend; Jessica Stonewood, suddenly questioned curiously, walking over. "You know Hailey?"

Nate looked towards Hailey's friend, and gave a slightly relieved smile, "Jessica, I almost forgot this was your class. Yeah, I kind of know Hailey… we've run into each other a few times at least…" The boy ran over to the blue-haired girl, giving her a quick hug, which she returned, "It's good to see you!"

"Good to see you too," Jessica smiled, before she pulled away from the brunette boy and gave him a strange look, "By the way, what's this I've been hearing about you having 'a bunch of girlfriends' lately?"

Nate was quick to take offense, "Is _that_ what people have been saying about me!? That's not what's going on at all!"

Seeing the boy's emotional reaction, the bluenette gave a sympathetic look, "Well, what's been going on?"

Nate sighed, looking like he didn't wish to explain, but reluctantly began, "Well, it all started when– "

"Hold it!" Hailey suddenly interrupted, jumping between Nate and Jessica and pointing to both of them, "You two know each other!?" the purple-haired girl questioned, trying to hide her jealousy as he looked between them. "And why do you seem so close?"

Nate and Jessica paused in their discussion, exchanging a glance, before looking back towards the purple-haired girl with quizzical expressions.

"Hailey, Jessica and I are cousins," Nate answered simply.

That answer put a halt to any jealousy the female yo-kai watch-user was feeling, while also catching her off guard, "C-Cousins…? You two…?"

Nate nodded, "Yeah, our moms are sisters…"

Jessica looked a bit annoyed by her friend's ignorance, "Hailey, I may not have known that Nate and you were friends, but I'm pretty sure I've mentioned him as my cousin to you before, like… more than a dozen times!"

Hailey looked away with a bit of embarrassment, chuckling to herself, "Oh, woopsy, yes I'm sure I did know that, slipped my mind is all!" the bespectacled girl tried to wave off her ignorance, subtly pulling out her notepad and crossing off Jessica's name from her list of 'potential-harem-rivals…'

Whisper floated in the corner of the room by Usapyon, giving a huff while crossing his arms, "To think Hailey didn't even realize that her best friend was Nate's cousin, quite a lapse in knowledge there!"

Usapyon gave the ghostly butler a suspicious look, "Ya didn't know either, did ya…?"

Whisper refused to respond to the Shady yo-kai's accusation.

Despite looking unconvinced by her friend's defense, Jessica turned back to her cousin questioningly, "So, where does this whole thing about you having many girlfriends stem from, if it's not true?"

Nate looked ready to give a painful expression.

However, before the boy could begin, one of the other students; Brooke Morino, a shorter girl with short, greyish-brown hair, got up from her seat and started heading for the door. However, she unexpectedly slipped, sending her tumbling face first towards the ground. "Wha!?"

Nate noticed at that moment the girl falling by him and acted without thinking.

Brooke closed her eyes, expecting an impact with the ground, but none came. Feeling a pair of arms having caught her, the girl opened her eyes to find a pair of concerned brown one's looking back at her.

"Hey, um… are you okay?" Nate asked unsurely, not entirely sure how he even had the reflexes to catch the girl from falling.

Jessica seemed equally shocked.

Hailey was taking notes. '_Interesting, could Nate's reflexes be the result of his transition to a harem protagonist…?_'

"Y-Yeah, I'm… fine," Looking up and into Nate's eyes, Brooke gave a bit of a gasp, her face turning red, "Th-Thank you…"

Helping the girl stand back up, Nate gave a relieved sigh, "I'm glad, that could have been bad…"

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm… a bit clumsy," Brooke chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head while averting her eyes from the boy. "So, uh… you're Nate, right?"

The brunette boy nodded, "Yeah, I… wait a minute!" Dread filled Nate as he finally recognized the look in Brooke's eyes, "Oh-Oh no!" quickly, he started backing away.

"Nate? Is something wrong?" Brooke asked with innocent concern, her eyes still shining with newly formed love that only filled the object of her affection with fear.

"N-No, nothing's wrong, nothing at all!" Nate kept backing up while shaking his head and didn't noticed as he bumped into another person. "Oh, sorry!" he quickly turned around to face a blond girl.

"Oh, it's fine," Isabel tried to assure the boy, but as soon as she looked into his eyes, she seemed to be mesmerized for a moment, before she shyly looked away with a blush, shuffling her foot on the ground, "Er… I'm, uh, sure you were just distracted, it's no issue…"

Nate's pupils shrunk in realization of what had just occurred.

"Wow, that one was _fast_…" Hailey noted in a fascinated tone.

"What's happening…?" Jessica questioned with a bit of concern along with confusion.

"The power of a 'harem protagonist' at work," Hailey answered in a professional tone, which did nothing to ease her friend's troubled feelings.

"My name's Isabel, um, you're 'Nate,' right…?" the blond girl asked carefully as she kept her sparkling eyes on him while giving a nervous, yet dazzling, smile.

Nate couldn't help a small blush forming on his own face, '_Oh no, she's pretty! Think of Katie! THINK OF KATIE!_' the boy hit the top of his own head several times in protest of his conflicting feelings.

Hailey's eyes narrowed as she judged the 'harem protagonist's' reaction. '_He's trying to resist it, but Nate's showing a clear attraction to Isabel… that could be trouble, but I also may be able to make use of it…_'

Luckily (or possibly unluckily…?) for Nate, at that moment two girls jumped between him and Isabel, giving him very pointed glares.

"You! Who do you think you are, just bumping into Isabel like that!?" the brown-haired girl, Chloe, shouted with indignation.

The black-haired girl, Sydney, nodded in agreement with her friend, "A plain nobody like you breathing the same air as the great Isabel is insult enough! Even simply _touching_ her is completely unacceptable!" she hissed.

Hailey seemed to take interest in this turn of events, "Oh, Isabel's overzealous minions, how will this turn out…"

"I'm very concerned for Nate…" Jessica muttered awkwardly, looking like she wanted to walk over and attempt to help her cousin, but Hailey held out an arm to block her path.

"Hold on, let's see how the power of 'harem' takes hold on them…" Hailey insisted seriously.

Isabel looked disappointed at her two friends getting between her and her new crush but couldn't find any words to speak in protest.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Nate tried to protest, internally grateful for these two getting in the way before he thought any more about how _pretty_ the blond girl was, and with how antagonistic these two seemed, he could only hope that what he dreaded wouldn't happen again…

Chloe and Sydney's glares lessened as they both were hit with a feeling that made them sure that the boy's apology was sincere.

"Well… if you're sorry, I suppose it's okay," Chloe coughed, suddenly feeling another strange feeling flowing through her as she stared at this boy…

"Y-Yeah, not everyone can be as specially aware as Isabel, you bumping into her by mistake is no surprise, just don't let it happen again," Sydney stuttered a bit, internally struggling to figure out why the _riff-raff_ before her suddenly seemed so _cute_…

Nate gulped, noting their sudden changes in demeanor, but hoping it was just his imagination, "W-Well, thanks for understanding, I suppose…"

"Y-Yeah, accidents happen," Chloe coughed again, before shaking her head, trying her hardest to glare at Nate, "But, just know that is our forgiving nature speaking! It's not like we _like_ you or anything!" she grunted as she kept glaring, her face turning bright red.

"Yeah, don't get the wrong idea!" Sydney huffed, turning her nose up, while trying to hide her blushing face.

"… What?" Nate muttered with a fearful, yet confused, expression.

"Hmm, Chloe and Sydney seemed to have adopted classic 'tsundere' personas," Hailey chuckled a bit in amusement of that idea.

"H-Hey, don't be mean to Nate!" Brooke suddenly came to the boy's (unnecessary) defense, moving between him and the other two girls.

Chloe and Sydney seemed to take offense to this interruption.

"Oh, says who?" Chloe hissed while glaring at the shorter girl.

"Yeah, you?" Sydney hissed.

"Um…" Brooke looked unsure on how to respond to the threatening tones.

"Come on guys, there's no need for any of this…" Isabel finally spoke up, trying to calm any tempers from flaring further.

Nate was carefully inching away from the four girls, his mind swirling with panic, denial, and many other feelings towards the current situation…

"What in the world is going on over there…?" a tall boy named Adam questioned, standing in the corner of the room, ready to leave, questioned his shorter friend.

"Not sure, but it might have potential," the shorter boy; Jack, said with interest, thinking of possible comedy routines that could be made from the type of situation he was observing between Nate and the four girls.

Angela, a blue-haired girl with a talent for fortune-telling, simply giggled with a bit of a blush on her face, staring directly at Nate as she stood by the comedy-duo.

As Nate was trying to back away from the current situation, he couldn't help but notice how more of the girls in the class had stopped whatever they were doing in order to look to him, and were converging on him…

"This is bad…" Nate muttered to himself, managing to move back over to Hailey and Jessica, whom backed up to the door with him while the girls continued to converge on them, almost resembling a looming swarm of _zombies_…

"Nate…" Jessica spoke up, looking a bit fearful.

"Yeah…?" Nate turned to his cousin with a slight whimper.

"I don't think you need to explain where that 'girlfriends' rumor came from anymore…" the blue-haired girl gave the brown-haired boy a sympathetic look, before they both gulped.

"I'm still not sure what all this 'harem' stuff means, but that doesn't look good…" Usapyon said with wide eyes as he and Whisper watched the girls of the class slowly march towards the cornered trio.

"Just stay back, they can't see us, we have nothing to do with it," Whisper assured the otter yo-kai, trying not to look directly at any of the girls, or his master…

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot," Isabel spoke with sparkling eyes directed at Nate. "Why don't we get to know each other better…"

"All _four_ of us, we'll come too," Chloe insisted with a small smile, before she quickly tried to glare and hide her blush.

"To make sure you don't try anything on Isabel, of course!" Sydney added, trying to hide her own blush while she and Chloe nodded in unison.

"I just… I really want to thank you for saving me, let me treat you to some ice cream or something," Brooke smiled sweetly.

"I… think I might like you…" a brown-haired girl named Ashley spoke with a rather stoic expression, aside from her blush, as she approached.

"I have foreseen the future; you and I are _destined_ to be," Angela giggled eagerly as she clasped her hands together.

"I've been looking for a new big scoop, getting myself a _boyfriend_ would certainly be newsworthy," Kaitlyn; a girl with puffy blue-hair, glasses, and holding a notepad and pen, spoke as she focused on the yo-kai watch-wearing boy.

"This is looking really bad," Jessica spoke in an urgent tone, starting to fear what would happen to her cousin once the girls all got their hands on him.

"Yeah, we should _probably_ get out of here," Hailey nodded, putting her notepad away, tapping the petrified Nate on the shoulder. "Hey, we're right by the door, remember?"

Nate blinked, "Oh, right!" quickly turning to the door, the boy slid it open… and let out a scream at what was on the other side…

"HI NATE!" All the girls of his own class, aside from Katie, were waiting right there, eager smiles on all their faces.

"Well… this could be bad," Hailey muttered with a thoughtful, yet curious expression.

All the girls of Class 5-1 whom had recently become infatuated with Nate seemed to take offense with all the girls of Class 5-2 outside the door, all speaking as one, "HEY! WHO ARE YOU!?"

The girls of Class 5-2 were quick to respond, also in unison, "ME!? I'M NATE'S GIRLFRIEND! WHO ARE YOU!?"

This, obviously, wasn't going to end well…

"**GIRLFRIEND!?**" not only did the girls of 5-1 shout in outrage at that proclamation, but so did each of the girls of 5-2 towards each other. Soon all the girls flowed into the classroom, everyone breaking into a huge argument while trying to grab at Nate.

"Natey-kins, come with me!" Megan Jones giggled as she grabbed the boy's arm.

"No, come with me!" a tan-skinned, brown-haired girl, named Megan Anne shouted as she jumped on the boy, pushing the other Megan away.

"No, mine!" Natalie shouted as she forcefully pulled the boy away.

"He's mine, that's what destiny says!" Angela insisted as she grabbed Nate's arm.

"Destiny can be altered by the power of curses!" Lina and Zoey shouted together as they pounced Angela.

"What the heck is going on here!?" one of the 5-1 boys, Brandon, questioned frantically as he was swept around by the flood of girls.

"I don't know, but at least it's not boring," another boy, Julian, shrugged as he was tossed aside from the girls whom were trying to lay claim to Nate.

"N-Nate, where are you…?" Shelly asked nervously as she looked around, as Nate seemed to have disappeared.

"Nate, where did you go?" Brooke looked around with concern for her 'savior.'

"Nate…" Ashley looked unsure as she glanced around.

Through the chaotic bustling of the crowd, the trio of Nate, Jessica and Hailey (along with the unseen Whisper and Usapyon) had managed to slip through the crowd and out the still open door, closing it behind them.

"They'll notice Nate isn't in there soon and come flooding out," Hailey said seriously as she looked to the other two kids. "We have to move."

"Alright, I just want to go home," Jessica nodded with a heavy breath.

Nate didn't look so confident, "There are guys from my class all over, they… aren't happy with me," he drooped a bit as he mentioned that, "I don't think we'll be able to get out without running into them."

Jessica looed disappointed at that revelation, but Hailey chuckled.

"Don't worry Nate, I suspected something like that might be the case," tapping her glasses with a confident grin, Hailey's eyes gleamed. "I happen to have another way we can get out of school, a way none of the girls, or boys, will see coming…"

Nate and Jessica blinked, looking towards each other unsurely.

Usapyon though, looked the most unsure of all…

* * *

Back in Classroom 5-1, the chaotic battle for the no-longer-present Nate continued, but it didn't take long for someone to notice that the prize they were fighting for, wasn't there…

"NATE'S GONE!" Megan Jones suddenly shouted at the top of her voice.

The girls all halted in their chaotic conflict, looking around, and confirming that the object of their affection was gone.

"Nate, where did you go!?" Maya cried out.

"Nate? We were just getting to know each other!" Isabel called.

"Our future…" Angela muttered sadly.

As arguments started to spark between the girls, Megan Anne moved to stand next to the other Megan, "Everyone, calm down!"

Megan Jones nodded as all the girls halted, before she spoke, "Look, we may be enemies in the fight for Nate's heart, but we are allies in one matter; we're girls in love!"

Megan Anne spoke next, "She's right! While we may need to defeat each other in the end, we can help each other in a time of need; like finding Nate!"

The other girls all muttered amongst themselves, before all nodding, an agreement met, "TRUCE!? TRUCE!"

Both Megans' smiled at the other girls, nodding to each other, before speaking in unison, "Now; LET'S FIND OUR MAN!"

"YEAH!"

"Are you writing this down?" Jack questioned Adam as they were watching the event unfold.

"I'm getting it, I'm getting it!" Adam nodded as he frantically wrote in a notebook, both members of the comedy thinking about how much gold there was here to mine for potential routines…

* * *

"Wait, what happened…?" Jessica muttered, glancing around at the fact that she, Nate and Hailey, had made it outside the school, in what she could only have described as a 'flash of light.' "How did we get out…?"

"Um… Hailey lead us to an emergency exit, but you kind of zoned out," Nate nervously reasoned, glancing over at the Mirapo that had 'spat them out' after they had entered the one in the school. '_Got to hand it to Hailey, setting up emergency-escape via Mirapo is pretty clever… but she should have considered what to say to Jessica!_'

"Yup, you just kind of conked out, I think you were overstressed with worry for your cousin here!" Hailey went along with Nate's explanation, over-emphasizing how she _definitely knew_ that Nate and Jessica were cousins.

"Really…?" the blue-haired girl scratched her head with a bit of disbelief, but after a quick look around, she couldn't think of any better explanation, "Huh… I guess I was more stressed than I thought…"

Before anymore conversation could be had, the loud sounds of what sounded like the school being _ransacked_, along with many female voices shouting, emitted from the building, reminding the trio that they weren't out of the woods yet…

"I do suggest that we vacate the premise at once," Whisper quickly suggested, a suggestion that didn't even need to be heard by all members of the group to be heeded, as they quickly fled from the school grounds…

* * *

Making it to the safety of Triangle Park, the trio got ready to part ways.

"Well, that was fun observing all the chaos of your whole 'harem' deal caused, Nate," Hailey chuckled, sticking her tongue out at the boy.

Nate glared at her, "Haha…" he shook his head before giving a small smile, "Thanks anyway, Hailey…"

The female yo-kai watch-user quickly turned away to hide her blush, "Eh, it was nothing, I just liked being part of the excitement! And using that 'emergency exit' of mine!"

"It was way more hectic than I was expecting..." Jessica muttered as she stepped over to her cousin, patting him on the shoulder, "I was expecting those rumors to be completely fake, not… this. Are you going to be okay…?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jess," Nate smiled in thanks to the blue-haired girl, before the two shared another hug.

Hailey felt no jealousy this time, knowing the two were family, and just smiled a bit as she watched the affectionate exchange, before glanced in the direction of Breezy Hills, "Well, I should probably head home now," she waved as she started walking to the parks exit, "Call me if you need any help classifying the archetypes of your harem girls, Nate!"

Nate groaned, shouting after the retreating girl, "You're _still _annoying, Hailey!"

Hailey just giggled as she kept running, Usapyon running after her.

Nate sighed while shaking his head, turning to Jessica again with a soft smile, "Well, thanks for helping me out too, Jess."

Jessica smiled back with a bit of a chuckle, "Hey, what are cousins for?" she paused, "Well… probably not this specific situation, but you know what I mean!"

Nate chuckled back nodding, "Say… do you want to come over for dinner? I'm sure my parents would be happy to hand you, and they could call yours no problem."

Jessica gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Nate, I can't tonight; I really should get home and feed my cat, maybe another time."

Nate seemed disappointed, but nodded in understanding, "Oh, alright… wait, you have a cat…?"

"Yeah, just got him not too long ago, he's such a cute kitten!" Jessica gushed with a loving expression, "Next time you come over I'll show you!"

The brown-haired boy smiled at that idea, "Okay, sounds like fun!" he could only imagine that it was probably more pleasant to have a normal, adorable kitten, than a nekomata that constantly napped and ate all his chocolate…

With a few more words of goodbye exchanged between the cousin, Jessica departed towards Breezy Hills, just as Hailey did.

Let out a bit of a sigh as the events of the day went by in his head, he had managed to escape unscathed, but his 'harem' had unexpectedly grown… but he also had gained two new allies in dealing with harem nonsense; he really should have considered talking to Jessica earlier, but he hadn't thought Hailey would be immune to whatever was occurring, but he certainly felt lucky that she was…

Looking in the direction of his home, the boy began walking, "Come on Whisper."

The yo-kai butler was quick to follow, "Wherever you go, I go, Nate!"

* * *

As she made her way towards the apartment building that she called home, Hailey's smile widened.

"It seems my hypothesis was correct," the purple-haired girl commented with a bit of an adjustment to her glasses, pulling her notepad up. "All it took was a simple encounter for the girls in my class, ones whom have never had much interaction with Nate, to fall right into what I have dubbed 'the Harem Effect…'"

"I still don't understand how any of this is supposed ta work…" Usapyon muttered while shaking his head.

Hailey ignored the yo-kai's confusion as she continued, "An unexpected find was that my longtime friend; Jessica, was in fact Nate's cousin… which also confirms something I had theorized; close family members are unaffected by the pull of the Harem Effect…" nodding to herself as she looked over the notes, Hailey's smile widened. "That obvious deduction aside, I have been able to pinpoint the exact harem archetypes that each of my female classmates have adopted! But better than that information, my primary mission has been accomplished!"

Usapyon looked a bit disturbed by how calculated the expression on Hailey's face turned, a complete contrast to how she had been presented herself to Nate earlier…

"Nate now sees me as a girl outside of his harem, whom he can look to for assistance and companionship while dealing with the troubles his harem may bring!" a bit of a smirk formed from Hailey's smile, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red, "It's all coming together, it will take time, but I'm confident I will be able to use my knowledge and skills to cultivate the situation to my advantage, and eventually get Nate to fall in love with me!"

"I don't feel right 'bout this, it seems kind'a… manipulative," Usapyon pointed out, scratching his head with an uncomfortable expression.

"This is the game you have to play to win at 'Harem,' Usapyon!" Hailey shouted firmly. "I can't go the direct approach, Nate's too stuck on Katie! I need him to see me at my best, see me as his rock in a crisis! I need him to fall in love with me because _he_ views me as the best choice!"

The otter yo-kai gulped at the gleam in the girls' eye, the one she had managed to keep hidden the entire time she had been interacting with her crush, a gleam that screamed of intelligence, possessiveness, and… a bit of craziness… '_Hailey… what in tarnation's going through that head o' yers?_'

* * *

"Well, that was all an ordeal, but I'm just happy it's over with…" Nate muttered gratefully as he slumped onto the couch of his living room.

"At least until you have to go back to school," Whisper pointed out as he floated over the reclining boy. "At which point, the girls will probably have rethought their strategies for how to 'get you,' so to speak…"

Nate just glared up at his butler, before he could give any kind of a retort, a knock was heard at the door. Nate rose up curiously, looking around, noting that neither of his parents were coming down to get that.

With a shrug, the young boy pulled himself up from the couch and walked over to the front door, opening it, and getting a surprised expression at the one whom was hovering out on his doorstep, "Toiletta…?"

"Hello, Nathan," the bathroom-inhabiting ghost greeted with a bow, before she floated past him and into his home, moving to where the bathroom was located. "Hmm… a bit small, but it will do."

Nate blinked, sharing a confused look with Whisper, before he followed the visitor, "Um, Toiletta, what are you doing?"

The female yo-kai looked towards the human, before chuckling, "Simple; I'm moving in!"

Nate and Whisper stared, the sound of ticking seemingly emitting from their heads, as if the gears in their brains were turning to try and process this statement, before a ringing sound was heard as it finally hit them, "MOVING IN!?"

"Well, it is kind of your fault that the school has gotten so _noisy_ lately, so I figure you owe this to me," the humanoid yo-kai reasoned with a shrug, before hovering into the bathroom.

"Wait, hold on!" Nate tried to protest, but it was no use.

"I'll be sure to vacate when you, or another, wishes to use this room for its functional purpose. Until then, I shall be here," Toiletta explained formally, gripping the door handle and looking towards Nate with a small smile. "I bid you a goodnight, Nathan."

Before Nate could give any kind of response, the bathroom door was shut right in his face, leaving him with a dumbfounded expression. "What just happened…?"

* * *

Well, that's another chapter. I'm not entirely sure why I'm writing chapters for this story so fast, aside from that I just have a lot of inspiration for it right now, and me wanting to get past the 'introduction chapters' and start doing more interesting things.

Toiletta has moved into Nate's bathroom! Don't worry, she may be part of the 'harem,' but she will keep her word about leaving the bathroom if somebody needs to use it. Plus, she won't be rooming in the bathroom for too long…

Also, I decided to include this little idea I've been kicking around for a bit of Hailey's friend Jessica being Nate's cousin. It's obviously not canon, but at the same time, they've never really interacted in canon, so it doesn't really contradict anything. So she's exempt from the harem.

I think this chapter suffers a bit for basically being a 'set-up' chapter for the girls in Hailey's class being in Nate's harem, similar to the first chapter. I think the next chapter will probably come out better, seeing as it will be primarily focusing on just Nate and Amy.

Though the unwanted harem being huge is part of the chaos and fun of this fic, I think chapters that will focus on a smaller number of girls and Nate in some situation will probably come out better, so I look forward to writing a good number of those in the future, with all sorts of chaotic plots.

Of course, having Nate flee from his giant swarm of a 'harem' is also fun, it's just not as good for individual characterization.

Anyway, hope that was enjoyable, and look forward to the next chapter: 'Beware of Pigtailed Girls, and angry Nekomatas!'


	4. Beware of Pigtailed Girls

**Chapter 4: Beware of Pigtailed Girls, and angry Nekomatas!**

* * *

The sun had risen on another day in Springdale, and the occupants of the Adams household were seated to a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast…

"Excuse me, but could someone please pass the salt," Toiletta requested politely from her seat next to Nate, to which a confused Aaron abided. Toiletta smiled in thanks, sprinkling the salt onto her eggs.

"Oh right… everyone can see Toiletta…" Whisper commented with a blank expression as he floated above his nervous master.

Lily swallowed a bite of her toast, before she let out an awkward hum, decided to address the elephant in the room, "So… honey, who is this girl, and why is she in our house…?"

Aaron blinked in surprise at the question from his wife, "Wait, I thought you knew; I was about to ask you the same thing!"

The parents exchanged befuddled looks, before glancing at the innocently eating Toiletta again.

Nate nervously glanced around, before sighing, '_I'm gonna have to tell them something, aren't I…?_' the boy placed his hands on the table, getting ready to give at least some kind of explanation, but the ghost girl beat him to it.

"My name is Hanako Letrina, I'm a foreign exchange student," the female yo-kai explained with a calm smile, not a hint of deceit in her tone.

Nate froze, looking towards Toiletta like she was nuts.

"Well, this isn't going to end too well," Whisper voice a similar thought to what was going through Nate's head at that moment.

"Foreign exchange student…?" Lily questioned with a skeptical expression. "I don't recall signing up to host any exchange students."

"Me either," Aaron nodded to his wife.

Toiletta gave a convincing, troubled frown, "Well, maybe you had forgotten? But I have all the paperwork right here."

Nate's eyes widened as the bathroom-inhabiting spirit produced a folded-up paper from her pocket, handing it to his parents.

Whisper seemed aghast, "She-She _couldn't_ have, could she!?"

The parents both looked over the paper with skepticism, before nodding to each other.

"Excuse us, Nate, um… Hanako, we need to make a call," Lily stated calmly, before she and her husband headed for the stairs, and the phone in their bedroom, as opposed to the one in the kitchen.

Toiletta continued to eat her breakfast contently after the two adults had left, not paying much mind to how Nate and Whisper were both staring at her. Munching on the bacon, the female yo-kai gave a nod of approval, "This is good bacon, your mom really knows how to cook, Nate."

Nate just kept staring at his newest housemate, before shaking his head, and giving her a serious look, "T-Toiletta, what was _that_!?"

The black-haired yo-kai blinked, before smiling with a bit of realization and gave a wave, "Oh, that? Don't worry about that! Your parents are probably on the phone right now going over this stuff with someone from the school, whom will probably be confused about it too, but they'll look in their own systems and see it all checks out, and assume it was human-error that they forgot, instead of say… outside tampering."

"Toiletta… what did you do?" Nate questioned with a slight eye-twitch.

"Try to get used to calling me 'Hanako' when we're in the open, your parents could walk back in at any moment," the young girl ghost corrected in a matter-of-fact voice. "And as for what I 'did,' it was nothing more than a bit of falsifying paperwork, a human identity for myself, and a bunch of technical nonsense that I didn't really understand," she waved her hand dismissively.

"Falsifying paperwork!?" Whisper shouted in outrage, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

Nate gawked at how nonchalantly the humanoid yo-kai spoke of activity that he was pretty was _highly illegal_. "Why would you do that!? _How_ did you do that!?"

"Well, after that whole 'tax fraud' ordeal, I decided to take an extensive look into the law system, so that nothing like that would happen again," Toiletta explained casually, finishing the last of her breakfast, before looking at her nails with a slightly bored look. "In my efforts, I ended up running into some yo-kai whom are experts on that sort of stuff, and they helped me with my human identification, in case such a situation would come up again." She looked back at Nate, flipping her hair a bit, "I don't really understand everything that goes into it, but when I decided to move in with you I called them up to make a few alterations to the identity they helped me make, as well as the school system, to implement me as a transfer student."

Nate and Whisper just kept staring at the humanoid yo-kai with expressions of disbelief.

Toiletta huffed, crossing her arms and turning away, "Look, that's what there is to it from my perspective. If you want a better explanation, you'll need to look elsewhere."

Before Nate or Whisper could try to question any further, the boy's parents returned from up the stairs, looking no less confused.

"Well, everything seems to legitimate, though I can't believe we would just forget about something like this…" Lily muttered with a troubled expression, before sending a sympathetic look the 'exchange student's' way, "We're sorry we didn't prepare anything for you, Hanako, but… welcome to our home, I suppose."

"It's no problem Mrs. Adams, I'm happy to be here," 'Hanako' gave a pleasant smile towards the woman, "I'll simply sleep in the bathroom if you have nowhere else to put me."

Nate facepalmed while both his parents gained disturbed expressions.

"I'm sorry… did you just say that you'd sleep in the _bathroom_…?" Aaron questioned with concern.

"Of course," Toiletta nodded, as if there was nothing weird with that statement.

Lily and Aaron exchanged looks of worry.

"Hanako, sweetie… where exactly were you from again…?" Lily asked carefully.

"Spain," the yo-kai girl recited her falsified country of origin.

The parents exchanged a strange look at that response, before deciding to shrug it off.

Nate gave a slight sigh of relief that his parents just seemed to be going with _this_…

"Alright, but we can't have you sleeping in the bathroom," Lily spoke with an uncertain tone.

"… Oh?" Toiletta blinked, apparently not foreseeing this outcome.

"Though it's probably not a good idea for you to be sleeping in Nate's room either…" the mother muttered with concern.

Nate subtly gave a sigh of relief; he liked Toiletta fine, but he _didn't_ want her sleeping in his room, especially with her being nearly _identical_ to a human girl.

"We do have an old guest room, but it would need some serious work…" Aaron admitted with a sigh.

Lily nodded, "It would certainly take more than a day to get that ready…"

Toiletta hummed, before nodding, "Oh, it's fine. I'll just take a futon into the living room and sleep there until the guest room is ready!" '_And I'll just sneak into the bathroom once all of you have gone to bed…_'

"You sure, Hanako? I'm sure Nate would be willing to give up his room and sleep in the living room himself until the room is ready," Lily suggested, glancing at her son with a pleasant, yet stern smile.

The boy froze up just as he was about to take a bite out of his eggs; not liking that idea at all…

"No, I don't want to put Nate out," Toiletta quickly waved the boy's worries away. "Plus, I'd be more uncomfortable sleeping in a boy's room, than I would with sleeping in the living room." '_Plus, Nate's room is farther from the bathroom! And if Nate wouldn't be there, any desire to stay there goes with him!_'

Well, if you're sure…" Lily nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I assure you it is fine," Toiletta nodded with the smile that would fit that of a 'normal' little girl.

"Alright than…" Lily chuckled a bit as 'Hanako' held out a hand, which she shook, "It might be pleasant to have another girl around the house, I suppose…"

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be long until I'm like _one of the family_…" Toiletta smirked, an eager smirk forming on her face as she looked towards Nate, whom was trying to ignore everything in favor of finishing his breakfast.

Noticing how 'Hanako' was looking at their son, Aaron and Lily shared a bit of a chuckle.

Nate suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine, but chose to ignore it…

* * *

"Hey, 'Hanako,'" Nate called out to the girl lounging on the couch as he passed through the living room.

"Yeah?" the ghost girl hung her head upside down over the back of the couch to look at the boy.

"If you have fake papers that say you're a transfer student… doesn't that mean you'll need to go to school…?"

Toiletta stared at the boy for a second, before facepalming, "I knew I was overlooking _something_!"

"So, you didn't actually consider that you would have to go to school?" Whisper questioned blankly as he floated into the room.

Toiletta sighed in annoyance, before a smirk came to her face and she chuckled, "Well… that will be a problem we get to when we get to it, I suppose, at least it won't be now…"

"What do you mean?" Nate questioned slowly as he looked at the girl yo-kai.

"Oh, by the way!" Lily called out as she looked in from upstairs, where she and Aaron had started examining the old guest room. "There's no school today! According to the principal; somehow all the toilet pipes have been clogged!"

Nate and Whisper both blinked at that statement as the mother went back upstairs before turning to look at the chuckle Toiletta.

"Didn't think I'd move out of that place without giving a parting gift, would you?" the ghost girl stuck her tongue out mischievously.

* * *

Several hours passed as the day continued, most of it, for Toiletta, was hanging out on the couch while trying to figure out what she should do with her newfound freedom as a 'human child…'

"Where are you going?" Toiletta looked over as she spotted Nate as he headed towards the door.

Nate smiled, "Well, seeing as school's out today, thanks to a certain _someone_…"

Toiletta gave a graceful smile, "You're _welcome_."

Nate chuckled, rolling his eyes.

Whisper gave a critical look between the two of them, before settling an accusatory one the female yo-kai's way, "You're going to turn innocent Nathan to a life of delinquency and debauchery!"

Nate gave an annoyed look towards his butler, "No she isn't Whisper, calm down…"

Toiletta scoffed, giving the other yo-kai a dull look, "Yeah, lighten up _Mr. Butler_, I helped my friend have some fun, big deal!"

"You probably caused the school hundreds, if not _thousands_, worth in damages!" Whisper shouted while shaking.

"No, I didn't; it's a minor clog in the pipes, a bit deep, but that's it! They'll figure it out and probably have it all running again within the week!"

"That doesn't make it okay!" Whisper countered angrily.

"Anyway!" Nate stepped between the two yo-kai, hoping to prevent a fight from breaking out, "I got a call from Eddie to meet him and Bear at the arcade," the boy explained, a frown forming on his face as he thought back to the preceding week. "We… haven't really gotten a chance to hang out normally since… this whole 'harem' thing started…"

Toiletta shrugged, "Well, it's important to spend time with friends, so be sure to have a good time." The black-haired girl gave a thumbs-up.

Nate smiled at Toiletta once more, before nodding, heading out the door.

Whisper lingered a bit, giving Toiletta a suspicious glare.

The short girl just gave the yo-kai butler a dull glare in response, seeming to only be mildly annoyed, at worst, by his accusatory look.

After a few moments of this, Toiletta let out a cough, "Shouldn't you catch up to Nate before he gets too far ahead of you…?"

Whisper's eyes narrowed a bit more, but he gave a grunt before he quickly floated out the door in an attempt to catch up to his master.

Toiletta remained in her spot on the couch, watching the direction the boy and his butler had left from, giving a forlorn sigh as she sunk into the cushion a bit, "It's good to spend time with friends, but I wish the friend you chose to hang out with was me…" the ghost girl's normally pale face took on a slight shading of pink, a dreamy smile forming, "And then, maybe… we could be _more_ than just friends…"

* * *

"I'm telling you Nate, that toilet ghost is up to something sinister," Whisper spoke suspiciously as he followed the boy along the sidewalk leading down to Downtown Springdale.

Nate rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on Whisper; it's Toiletta! She may be mischievous and impulsive–her moving into our house is proof of that–but she's our _friend_, I don't think she's going to do anything to hurt us!"

"Just because she may not be planning to hurt _us_, doesn't mean she isn't up to something sinister!" Whisper countered firmly.

Nate sighed, "I don't see why you are stuck on this; again, it's Toiletta, she's not going to– "

"LOOK OUT!

Nate looked up at the sudden female shout, just in time to see a bike flying off the top of a nearby set of stone concrete steps, soaring through the air overhead… before coming tumbling down…

*CRASH!*

Right onto Nate…

"Owwww…"

* * *

Laying on the concrete ground, Nate could see an overturned bicycle in a bush nearby. Miraculously, the rider seemed okay as she got up and brushed herself off, before she noticed him and ran over, "Oh my, I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?"

Nate struggled to pull himself up to respond to the one whom had crashed into him, luckily he did not hit his head or seem to have broken any bones, but he was still having a bit of trouble moving, particularly in his left arm and leg.

Managing to look up, the vision of the girl looking down at Nate was slightly obscured by the sun, but as she leaned down to get a better look at him, her form became more clear; a girl whom looked a bit older than him, though not by too much, probably about thirteen years old.

She had fair skin tone, short brown-hair done up in pigtails, and dark-brown eyes that looked down at the fallen boy with kindness and concern. Her attire consisted of a white shirt, overlaid with a light blue jacket, as well as a pair of red shorts.

Nate's face turned slightly red as he realized he had been staring, but lucky for him, the girl did not seem to have noticed; being more concerned with looking over his body for any noticeable injuries.

"Can you stand?" the girl asked, worry lacing her tone.

Nate let out a pained grunt as he tried to pull himself up, before shaking his head, "N-No, I don't think I can."

The girl looked aside with a dark look, and Nate could have sworn he heard her mutter something along the lines of 'lame' under her breath, before her expression turned kind again as she refocused on the boy. "Here, let me help you."

"Ow…" Nate whined as the girl put his arm around her shoulder, helping him stand.

"Come on, my house is close, you can rest there, and we can figure out what's wrong…" the girl insisted.

Nate was in too much pain to protest, or point out the direction to his house, so he just went with it…

* * *

"My parents won't be home for a few hours, but I'm sure they won't mind if you rest here," the girl assured, allowing Nate to get comfortable on the couch. "While I'm not a doctor or anything, I can tell you haven't broken any bones at least; it seems like you just sprained your left arm and leg…"

Nate sighed in relief, "Oh, good that means–Ow!" the boy suddenly whimpered as he tried to get off the couch and failed.

The girl frowned, "'Just a sprain' doesn't mean you can just go; you need to recover!"

"But…" the boy winced as another shot of pain came from his left arm, "My friends are waiting for me at the arcade…"

The pigtailed girl sighed, shaking her head, "Well, they're going to have to keep waiting; your health should come first, and since I did this to you, it's _my_ responsibility to make sure you're okay!"

Nate stared at the girl like she was crazy, '_That… isn't entirely crazy, I suppose,_' he shrugged, before being reminded that he probably shouldn't do that with his left shoulder and wince…

"So, do you need anything, like maybe something to eat?" the girl smiled as she looked at the bedridden boy.

"Look, thank you for helping me," '_After you crashed into me…_' Nate chose not to voice that last part, struggling to sit up while giving the girl a kind smile of his own, "But I don't think I should be eating your food, along with taking up your time. I need to meet my friends at the arcade anyway, so–OW!" the boy's attempts to pull himself up from the couch were halted by his own cry of pain.

The thirteen-year-old frowned, shaking her head, "I may not be a doctor, but I can tell you're not going anywhere at the moment with those nasty sprains." Standing up with a firm, yet gentle expression, the girl patted Nate on the head. "You just rest there while I get you something to eat, after that you can help me call your parents and they can see about taking you home," without waiting for any words of confirmation, the kind girl headed towards the kitchen.

Nate sighed as he sunk into the couch, internally admitting that the girl was probably right, and he wasn't going to be able to make it to the arcade today…

"Hm, I must commend this girl on her performance as a host!"

The praise from the yo-kai butler reminded Nate that the ghost was still with him, hovering just above one of the couch's arms.

"I mean, it is a bit unfortunate that her reckless cycling landed you in this situation in the first place, but she really has been handling it very well!" Whisper nodded with an impressed look.

"I didn't know you put a lot of stock into somebody being a host," Nate commented in a bit of a pained tone.

"OF COURSE, I WOULD PUT STOCK INTO THE PREFORMANCE OF A HOST!" the spirit suddenly shouted, nearly flying into his master's face, making the boy flinch. "I am a _butler_, Nathan! And being an ideal host to one's master's guests is an _incredibly_ important part of being a butler!" crossing his arms with a huff, the yo-kai floated away again. "If you ever entertained some yo-kai guests, you would know this!"

Though the boy normally would dismiss most of Whisper's ramblings and jabs as nonsense, he did actually feel a bit of guilt at that comment, holding up his yo-kai watch, recalling Toiletta's earlier words; '_it's important to spend time with friends…_'

'_The yo-kai give me their medals as a sign of friendship, but… don't I only summon them if I need them for something? Have I ever summoned one of my yo-kai friends just to hang out…?_'

"Nate! NATE!"

The boy was snapped out of his guilt-ridden thoughts to see his butler giving a stern look.

"Nathan, were you listening?"

"Um… no, sorry Whisper."

The butler groaned, shaking his head, before giving a stern look, "What I _just_ said was; since this girl is making the effort to be such a good host, you better do your part and be a good guest! Be sure to eat all the food she gives you, don't complain about it, and don't protest if she wants to do anything else to help with your current condition!"

Nate sighed, but nodded to the yo-kai, seeing no reason to argue.

Things were quiet for the next half hour or so, the teenage girl popped in every now and then to make sure he was okay, but it wasn't until the tail end of that time that she returned with the food, and things started 'moving' again, so to speak…

Carefully carrying a steaming bowl of some kind of stew, the girl gave an awkward smile as she walked back over to the couch, "I'm not exactly a chef or anything, but I've seen my mom make this potato stew more times than I can count."

The steam of the stew entered the yo-kai watch-user's nose, and he was reluctant to admit that he almost drooled; it smelled _really_ good…

Holding up the spoon, the girl took some of the stew, before holding the utensil up to the boy, "Now be careful; it's a little hot."

Nate froze, staring at how the girl was holding out the spoon, as if she was trying to… '_Wait… does she really expect me to… to…_ "the boy's face turned bright red as the realization hit full force.

The girl's smile faded at Nate's hesitation, pulling the spoon back and looking concerned, "What's wrong? Is it too hot?" holding the spoon up to her lips, the girl gently blew on it.

Nate's face glowed brighter and brighter as he watched the host's caring display.

The thirteen-year-old nodded in satisfaction after she believed she had blown on the stew enough, before she held it before the boy's face again, "Well, come on? Open up."

Nate just kept staring, the red on his face unfading.

"Come on, Nate!" Whisper scoffed as he floated over the boy. "Did you really expect her to let you eat it yourself? One of your _arms_ is sprained! Just let her feed you!"

Nate didn't respond, continuing to stare blankly, with a burning red face…

The girl's frown returned as she looked at the boy, taking note of the red coloration of his face, and what appeared to be… steam(?) emitting from his forehead. Placing the spoon back into the bowl, the girl moved a hand onto her guest's forehead, "What's wrong? Do you have a fever now?"

Nate was, luckily, able to regain his senses before the girl considered calling for an ambulance, "N-No, I'm f-fine!" averting his eyes, the boy glanced at the stew, "It's just…"

The young lady looked relieved that the already hurt boy didn't have a fever on top of that, pulling her hand back, but gained a confused look at his words, "What are you…" glancing down at the bowl, than at the boy's red face, it wasn't long before she was able to put two and two together, putting a hand to her mouth as her own cheeks turned red, "Oh! I, um…" removing her hand, the girl looked down with an embarrassed look, "I'm… I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking… like _usual_…"

"Huh…?" Nate blinked in confusion, noting how the girl's tone was changing to that darker tone he thought he had imagined earlier…

"I'm… _so lame_…" the girl muttered in an almost monotone.

'_Lame… lame… lame…_' Nate's eyes widened as that word echoed in his mind, recalling what Jibanyan had told them about his old owner Amy, the _truth_ of what she had said when he died; '_I can't believe I let you get hit by a truck, I'm… so lame…_' looking up around the room, Nate finally took note of the numerous pictures featuring the girl, alongside a _very familiar_ looking cat…

"Oh, now look what you've done, Nate! I told you to be a good guest!" Whisper scolded as he floated above the boy.

Nate ignored the ghost, staring at the sulking girl in shock, '_Could it… actually be…?_' "A-Amy…?"

The girl's dark-look almost immediately faded, giving way for one of confusion as she looked up at the boy, "What…?"

"Wait, _AMY_!?" Whisper shouted in shock, only now taking note of the pictures along the walls, just like Nate, "Amy!? As in; 'Jibanyan's old owner, Amy!?' _That_ Amy!?"

Not hearing Whisper's loud questioning, the girl just stared at Nate with shock and confusion, "How… do you know my name? Have we met before…?" she squinted her eyes, attempting to see if she could recognize the boy from somewhere.

"No, we've never met," Nate was quick to correct, giving a gentle smile, "Sorry for dropping that on you, my name is Nathan Adams, but you can call me Nate. And I… know an old friend of yours."

"An old friend…?" Amy looked questioningly at that explanation, trying to think of which of her friends it could be…

"Also, you're not lame, Amy," the boy quickly said, catching his host off guard, "Yes, you were riding your bike a bit recklessly, and you didn't really think about how I'd react when you tried to feed me your stew, but… you still did everything you could to help, you carried me to your home and gave me a comfortable place to rest, you cooked me a whole meal!" giving an encouraging smile, the boy reached out with his good hand, patting Amy on the shoulder, before he used it to grab hold of the spoon in the now somewhat cooler bowl of stew, and took a bite. "And… this stew is _really_ good!"

"I… I just copied my mom…" Amy muttered, placing a hand to one of her pigtails as she averted her eyes from Nate.

"Well, you did a good job!" the younger brunette encouraged. "But I know that's not what you actually care about; cooking isn't your passion… that would be fashion design."

The girl's eyes widened, staring at the boy in disbelief, "H-How…? The only one I've ever talked to about that was… was…" tears started to well up in Amy's eyes.

Whisper looked ready to scold his master for making the girl cry, but the yo-kai watch user gave him a firm look which halted any attempt.

Nate smiled at Amy once more, "I know you will be a great fashion designer one day, I know because the old friend of yours, the one who told me about you; he believes in you, he believes in you more than _anything_ else in the world!"

"I… I don't understand," Amy whimpered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What are you talking about!?"

Nate's smile didn't change, "Would you… like to see him?"

Amy didn't give a vocal response, but the look in her eyes told Nate all he needed.

Turning back to the yo-kai butler, Nate gave a firm nod, "Whisper, please get my original yo-kai watch and Jibanyan's old medal."

Amy looked around in confusion, not seeing whom Nate was talking to.

The butler gave an unsure look, glancing at Amy, "Nate… are you sure that's a good idea?"

Nate nodded, his expression still firm, "Yes; please get them Whisper."

Seeing his master's resolve, the yo-kai butler gave an affirmative bow, before he floated through one of the houses walls, heading back to Nate's home to retrieve the requested items.

"What is going on, what were you just talking about…?" Amy asked, looking around in a slightly frazzled manner. "Are… are you experiencing hallucinations!? Do I need to call an ambulance after all!?"

Nate quickly waved his free arm for Amy to calm down, "No, Amy, please; it's okay."

Seeing the calm and gentle smile on the injured boy's face, Amy herself calmed a bit, still staring at him questioningly.

"Amy… I want to do something to thank you, and I want to thank my friend too, the one that knew you before he met me; you both deserve this, that is one thing I'm sure of…"

"I still don't understand…" Amy muttered confusedly.

"Don't worry; you will…" Nate's smile turned mysterious as Whisper floated back into the house, handing the boy the original yo-kai watch and Jibayan medal.

"Just so you know; Jibanyan's napping," Whisper commented bluntly as he floated back a bit.

"When _isn't _he napping?" Nate rolled his eyes taking both items in his good hand. "Besides; I'm sure this is one time where he'll be _happy _to be woken up from a nap…"

Amy's confusion grew as Nate seemed to be talking to nothing again, and a strange watch similar to the one he was wearing just seemed to appear in his hand, along with some kind coin…?

Noting Amy's stare, Nate grinned toward her, holding out his hand along with the watch and medal, "Please; take them."

Taking hold of the watch first, Amy looked at it oddly, "What… kind of watch is this? It doesn't even look like it has any way to tell time, and…" she blinked as she picked up the coin, getting a good look at the picture on it, she nearly dropped both the watch and medal, but managed to keep her grip firm, "R-Rudy…!?" she looked back at Nate, "H-how, what is… how is…" she stuttered as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Alright, calm down, and do as I say," Nate spoke up, holding a firm yet kind tone. "Strap the watch onto your wrist."

Feeling like nothing in the world made sense at that moment and taking a bit of comfort in the boy's voice, Amy did as she was instructed

"Okay," Nate nodded with satisfaction seeing the yo-kai watch strapped onto Amy's left wrist. "Now, take that coin, and insert it into the watch, face up, and then repeat after me."

Staring at the picture that resembled her dead cat so heavily, Amy nodded, inserting it into the slot as she was told, finding it fit perfectly.

"Come on out my friend," Nate lead.

"Come on out my friend," Amy repeated, a bit unsurely.

"Calling Jibanyan!"

"Calling Jibanyan!"

"Yo-kai medal, do your thing!"

"Y-Yo-kai medal, do your thing!" Amy finished a bit nervously, not even sure what she was expecting to happen.

"**SUMMONING CHARMING!**"

The teen girl jumped in surprise, certainly not expecting the watch to shout out, nor was she expecting a pink tornado of glowing runes to burst out from it!

"**Alarming, boom, boom! Walla, walla, dance, dance, Charming!**"

Amy watched as a form appeared within the swirling summoning portal, a form that nearly had her faint from shock, disbelief, and happiness…

"Jibanyan!" the nekomata announced his name as he appeared, before he landed on the ground and glared at the reclining boy, "Nyate! What did I tell you about calling me when I want a cat nyap! What do you even nyeed!"

"Wait, Jibanyan; you don't understand," Nate spoke quickly, hoping the cat yo-kai wouldn't try to attack him, and worsen his injuries. "You weren't summoned because I need you for something."

This comment only seemed to annoy Jibanyan further, "So, you called me for _nyothing_!?" the cat yo-kai growled.

"No!_ I_ didn't call you!" Nate shouted quickly.

"Listen to him! This is important Jibanyan!" Whisper joined in while waving his arms.

Jibanyan huffed, "Quiet Whisper! I don't care what the reason is! I was in the middle of a nyap, and you call me to this… house…?" the nekomata blinked, looking around. "This… very… _very_… familiar house…?"

"R-Rudy…?"

The sniffling voice from behind him had the cat yo-kai freeze, before he slowly turned around to see the one that had summoned him, "A-Amy…?"

Tear of joy streamed from Amy's eyes, not caring the specifics of what was going on or how it was possible, only that her _best friend_ was back! "RUDY!"

"AMY!" Jibanyan jumped forward, tears of joy flowing from his own eyes as he joined in a hug with his old owner.

"I missed you so much!" Amy cried as she tightly hugged the feline spirit.

"I nyever thought I'd see you again!" Jibanyan cried as well, hugging onto his owner just as tightly.

Nate watched the reunited duo, a serene smile on his face.

Whisper had a similar expression as he watched, '_Nate was right, this was the correct decision…_'

"Amy, I… I…" Jibanyan sniffled as he nuzzled against the girl's face.

"Rudy, please don't leave me again!" Amy pleaded. "Please, don't let this be a dream!"

"It's nyot a dream! I won't go anywhere, nyot ever again!" Jibanyan assured firmly.

"Rudy!" Amy smiled, holding the cat yo-kai up.

"Amy…" Jibanyan smiled back, his tails dangling as he was lifted high.

Then, something happened that not even Nate or Whisper were expecting; Jibanyan began to glow.

"Huh, what the?" Nate shielded his eyes from the sudden light.

"Jibanyan's… _evolving_?" Whisper guessed as he also averted his eyes, coming up with the first explanation that made any sense to him.

However, when the light faded, it didn't seem that an evolution was what had taken place.

"Rudy…?" Amy blinked as her vision returned, staring at the cat in her arms; the cat that looked identical to how he did before that fateful moment when he was hit by that truck…

"Nya!" the red cat's single tail wagged as he smiled happily.

**Charming Tribe: Rudy**

"Rudy, I don't understand why you were in that other form a moment ago, or why you're back to normal now… but I don't care about any of that, I'm still just so happy!" the girl hugged the cat tightly once more, which he gave a purr in response to.

"Jibanyan… turned back into a regular cat…?" Nate questioned with a blank stare, "H-how is that possible…?"

Whisper was searching through his yo-kai pad to find an answer, which he managed to in a timely fashion, "Aha! Here it is! Yo-kai Memory-Devolution!"

The human boy looked to his yo-kai butler questioningly, "Yo-kai Memory-Devolution?"

Whisper nodded, hiding the yo-kai pad back behind his back, "Yes! While it may seem that Jibanyan has reverted to the state of a living cat, he is actually very much still a yo-kai!" Whisper exclaimed, gesturing to Amy, whom was rocking Rudy as if he were a baby in her arms. "Yo-kai Memory-Devolution is a rare phenomenon where a yo-kai with a strong emotional attachment to a memory of another time, or perhaps a person associated with said time, can temporarily revert to the form they held at that time!"

Nate stared at Amy and Rudy with wide eyes, having never expected to witness this by bringing these two together, "I had no idea something like that could happen…"

"Not many yo-kai even do, so don't feel bad about that," Whisper shrugged. "What's more; while the yo-kai may revert in physical appearance to an earlier form, while in the state of Memory-Devolution, they are actually more powerful!" Holding up the yo-kai pad to Rudy briefly, the butler nodded, "Indeed, it seems while in this form, Jibanyan's been bumped up from a D-Rank, to a C-Rank!"

Seeing Amy giggle as Rudy affectionately licked her face, Nate's shock faded, his serene smile returning, "This… is incredible."

"Well, witnessing a rare event and reuniting two long lost family members aside, I hope you're prepared to give Amy an explanation on the world of yo-kai after this," Whisper stated seriously.

Nate nodded, "Don't worry, I know she'll need an explanation once everything calms down, and I'll give it to her. But for now, let's let her enjoy the moment…"

Amy giggled as she hugged Rudy again, before noticing Nate's smile as he watched them, a flash of pink crossed her cheeks, before she set the cat down.

"Nyeow?" Rudy looked at his owner questioningly.

Amy smiled at the cat, patting him on the head, before turning to face the boy, "Nate… I still don't understand everything, but I do know this; I hit you with my bike, and accidentally got you injured, took you to my home to make up for it… and then you, _somehow_, decided that _you _needed to thank me… and you did so in the most _amazing _way possible!"

"Um, well it was no problem, I just wanted you both to be happy," Nate chuckled sheepishly as he scratched his slightly reddening cheek.

Amy shook her head, gulping a bit as she clutched her chest, "No, Nate, you don't understand; I… I…" than, Amy did something completely unexpected. Though, all aside from her probably _should _have been expecting it at this point…

"Nate, I _LOVE_ you!" Amy nearly squealed, moving over to the shocked boy and wrapping him in a gentle hug, careful not to touch his sprained arm, before she planted a big kiss right onto the boy's cheek.

Nate's face turned an even brighter shade of red, his eyes widening as Amy nuzzled her cheek against his, "Wha-WHAAAT!?"

Whisper just stared in surprise for only a short moment, before he shrugged, "Eh… another to the harem I suppose?"

Rudy's pupils shrank, his body shaking as he stared at _Amy lovingly nuzzling Nate_!

Amy noticed how her kind-of-undead cat was staring, and smiled brightly at him, "Come on over Rudy, you wanna cuddle with your _new papa_?"

Nate and Rudy both gawked in shock and horror, '_NEW __**PAPA!?**_'

Rudy's form kept shaking, until finally, the cat burst into a puff of purple smoke.

Amy's eyes widened, "Rudy!?"

"NYATE!" Jibanyan's voice shouted out from within the smoke, before the familiar nekomata form of Jibanyan stomped forward.

Amy looked relieved that, aside from reverting back to his 'stranger' form, her cat was fine.

Nate, on the other hand, couldn't help feeling nervous by the menacing glare the cat yo-kai was sending his way.

"NYATE, you… YOU!" Jibanyan stomped a foot onto the ground with a snarl, "YOU REUNYITED ME WITH AMY JUST SO YOU COULD ADD HER TO **YOUR HAREM!**"

"What; WHAT!?" Nate questioned in a shocked and fearful tone.

"Harem…?" Amy looked questioning at that comment.

Nate frantically tried to defend himself, attempting to wave his good arm, only to be reminded it was firmly in Amy's grip. Gulping, Nate looked at the encroaching feline, "J-Jibanyan, I was just trying to do something nice for you both! I swear! I just wanted to be a good friend!"

"And you were the _sweetest_ one ever," Amy praised affectionately, giving the boy another kiss on the cheek.

Nate's face ignited again, before he gave a fearful whimper.

"**NYAAATE!**" Jibanyan snarled viciously, going on all fours and looking ready to pounce.

"Well… it was nice knowing you, Nate…" Whisper commented, backing away into a further corner of the room.

"**PAWS!**" Jibanyan jumped forward, knocking over the bowl of stew that still sat the ground in the process. "**OF!**" he jumped up over the couch, his burning eyes zeroing in on Nate's face. "**FUR**–Nya?" the cat yo-kai blinked, finding himself being held by the scruff of his neck, before he was turned and flinched at the sight of Amy's stern glare.

"Rudy, I'm surprised in you!" Amy scolded as she held the nekomata up to face Nate, "Can't you see he's injured!? He reunited us, and now you want to repay him by putting him in the hospital!? I'm disappointed in your behavior!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Jibanyan whimpered like a little kid whom had just been scolded by their mother.

"Not to me; you know who you need to apologize to," Amy insisted firmly, placing the feline back on the ground and keeping a stern look towards him, tapping her foot on the ground for emphasis.

"Y-Yeah, I knyow…" the nekomata drooped, turning to the couch, "I'm… sorry Nyate…"

Nate just stared, not expecting Amy to be able to reign in like that, "Um… it's fine, Jibanyan, it was kind of a… shocking experience…"

Amy smiled, "Good," the smile didn't last long though, as she gestured to the overturned bowl of stew, with its contents all over the carpet, and some of the wooden floor. "But you still need to clean up after yourself! And that was Nate's food, so you're going to have to make that up to him too!"

"It's fine, Amy, other than cleaning the floor, he doesn't need to make it up to me," Nate quickly insisted.

"No, Nate, don't be so lenient!" Amy shook her head to the boy, while Jibanyan reluctantly moved to get equipment to clean up his mess. "He needs to learn that actions have consequences, and that if you wreck something that belongs to somebody else, that you need to take responsibility!"

Nate looked unsure how to react to this stern, 'motherly' side to Amy… nor was he sure what to think when he put together that she was treating him as her 'husband,' and Jibanyan as their 'child…'

"I must say," Whisper spoke in a praising tone as he floated beside Amy. "You are certainly an impressive individual; not only a model host, but also able to keep someone as uncontrollable as Jibanyan in line! You truly have my praise!"

Amy didn't react at all to Whisper's words, continuing to watch Jibanyan as he returned with a bucket of a water and a sponge to clean up the stew.

Whisper floated there for a moment with a blank expression, before he facepalmed, "Oh! Right, she hasn't summoned me or shined the yo-kai watch's light on me, so she can't see or hear me…"

Nate chuckled a bit at Whisper's predicament, accidentally moving a bit too much in the process, "Ow!" wincing a bit as he felt the pain in his arm and leg again, Nate sighed, "Amy, I think we should get to that calling of my parents that you mentioned earlier…"

* * *

Standing in front of the arcade in Downtown Springdale, both Eddie and Bear looked rather bored.

After a few moments of this, Bear sighed, his expression drooping as he turned to his smaller friend, "Nate's not coming, is he?"

Eddie drooped a bit, "I'm starting to suspect that might be the case…"

"Wait, Nate's not coming!?"

The sudden female voice caught the two boys by surprise, before they both turned to see Meg appear from behind a nearby tree.

"Then what the heck have I been following you guys for!?" the girl shouted in outrage as she glared at the two, as if it was somehow their fault.

"Nate's not coming!?"

The sound of another voice interrupted the duo from giving any response to Meg's outburst.

"I thought you guys said he would be joining you guys earlier!" Lulu shouted as she appeared from the corner of a building.

"Uhhhh…" Bear looked like he wanted to give a response, but there would be no opportunity…

"Nate isn't going to show up!?"

"So, what am I doing waiting here!?"

"Nate isn't coming!?"

"You guys tricked us!"

"Hey, yeah!"

"Who knows where Nate could be, any random girl could snag him for herself!"

Eddie and Bear both gulped nervously as more and more girls from both class 5-1 and 5-2 came out from hiding, surrounding them, and continuing to talk amongst themselves about how Nate not showing up was somehow their fault, and that they had 'tricked them' or something.

"Eddie, I'm scared…" Bear whimpered, hugging his friend.

"Me too, Bear, me too…" Eddie whimpered back as the horde of angry girls converged on them…

* * *

Well, here's the next chapter, and much sooner than I was expecting to have it. Hope it was enjoyable.

I'm not sure why I wrote this so quickly, I just had a serious explosion of inspiration for writing this chapter. I wouldn't expect as quickly an update for the next one, especially since I have other writing projects I need to work on.

A few things about this chapter; I mentioned before that I decided to make Amy thirteen, with her probably being around eleven when Jibanyan died. It probably doesn't make a lot of sense to place her age at thirteen, but it's to have her in the harem, which I said before, I think is worth a little bending of canon for the comedy it can bring.

Another thing; 'Yo-kai Memory-Devolution' is something I made up, mainly because; it's always kind of bugged me that it was possible to recruit Jibanyan's normal cat form, that he counted as a yo-kai, and that he was _stronger_ than regular Jibanyan. This idea is kind of to explain what's going on there, though it's also not completely without basis in canon, as something similar does occur in Shadowside when Jibanyan encounters Amy, and briefly reverts to his original Yo-kai Watch form after he remembers her.

Also, figure I should clarify where in the 'timeline' this takes place, loose as that may be. Keeping in mind this is the anime world, Nate still is using the Yo-kai Watch U, so it's before he gets the Yo-kai Watch Dream, also before Tomnyan and Jerry move in. That's about it, so anything before that can be assumed to have happened, and anything after it hasn't.

I might introduce elements like Tomnyan, Jerry, the Yo-kai Watch Dream, ect, later. It probably won't be exactly how it occurred in canon if I do so, just letting people know of when this is 'taking place.'

Next chapter, whenever that will be, will probably be primarily about yo-kai that get absorbed into the harem, aside from Toiletta, whom has already been presented, of course.


	5. All Aboard!

**Chapter 5: All Aboard!**

* * *

Nate sighed as he sat in bed, staring at the foot of the bed where Jibanyan would often sleep; it had only been about a day, but the young man was already missing his annoying, feline companion…

* * *

_Awaiting his parents' arrival, Nate looked over at the feline yo-kai, whom had just made a decision about his future living conditions…_

"_Well, we had a good run Nyate," Jibanyan smiled to the human boy, giving a boy. "Don't be a stranger, though also don't just summon me for whatever!"_

"_I'll try to remember that," Nate gave a bit of a chuckle and a melancholy smile as he looked down at the nekomata whom had lived with him for what felt like forever at this point._

"_You can visit anytime you want, Nate! You're always welcome!" Amy smiled brightly; her cheeks tinted pink as she looked at the boy._

_Jibanyan's eye twitched a bit at his owner's crush, but chose not to say anything on it or ruin the moment…_

"_Thank you for everything, Nate, for reuniting me with Rudy, telling me about yo-kai, everything…" Amy leaned forward towards the reclining boy, preparing to give him another kiss on the cheek._

"_Alright! THAT'S ENYOUGH OF THAT!" Jibanyan suddenly shouted, pulling his owner away from the yo-kai watch-using boy._

* * *

A small blush came to Nate's face as he recalled Amy's rather blatant crush on him, alongside the whole nonsense with him having a 'harem' lately… he quickly shook those thoughts aside.

He was happy for Jibanyan of course, he had been reunited with someone very special to him, but he still couldn't help missing him…

Nate shifted his arm a bit, happy that most of the pain had faded; his parents had taken him to a doctor shortly after picking him up from Amy's, and it had turned out, despite Amy's initial assessment (though, she did stress that she wasn't a doctor,) the crash hadn't actually sprained anything, lucky for him, since according to the doctor; an actual sprain to both his arm and leg could have him bedridden for a week or more…

Still didn't mean they didn't hurt for a while though, and they still ached a bit even now that most of the pain had faded…

Letting out a lonely sigh, the boy glanced at the spot on his bed where the nekomata would often sleep, he absentmindedly flipped open the yo-kai watch, shining the light on and off… Not expecting a yo-kai to be revealed, curled up in that spot.

"Nya…" the pink nekomata's ears twitched, before a pair of blue eyes turned to look at the boy, and a smile came to her face. "Hello!"

Nate nearly reeled back in surprise, before he shook his head and gave the feline a questioning look, "Wait, who are you? What are you doing here?"

The female nekomata quickly stood up, revealing her to be wearing some sort of little sailor uniform, "Sailornyan, reporting for duty, Captain Nyate!" she did a twirl and wink before saluting. "I heard there was an openying for a cat yo-kai in this room, so I came right away!"

**Charming Tribe: Sailornyan**

Nate stared at the intruding yo-kai for several seconds, an annoyed and suspicious look formed on the boy's face. "Whisper!"

Beckoned by the call of his master, the yo-kai butler flew into the room, "What is it, Nate?"

"Are you responsible for this?" the human boy questioned his butler pointedly, gesturing to Sailornyan, whom waved.

Whisper stared with a confused expression, "Erm… I don't follow. Who is that?"

"So, you're not the one who told her we had an 'opening for a cat yo-kai?'" Nate questioned, his suspicion lowering.

"I pledge my absolute loyalty to you, Captain Nyate, I'll follow you to the ends of this world, and the nyext!" Sailornyan announced with conviction and sparkling eyes, before jumping over to Nate and handing him her medal.

"Um… thanks," Nate took the medal with a confused expression, glancing towards Whisper again, with the yo-kai butler only giving a shrug in response. Nate let out a small cough, before looking towards the feline again, "Um… Sailornyan, where… did you come from?"

Before the pink nekomata could answer, the closet door slid open, and a frantic Hidabat flew out, bowing to Nate apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Nate! Word about Jibanyan moving out spread faster than expected, and it seems Sailornyan misunderstood the meaning of the situation!" the bat-like yo-kai turned to the cat one with as stern a look as he could manage. "Sailornyan, please don't bother Nate, go back to your room…"

"Nyo!" Sailornyan pouted, jumping over to Nate and hugging onto his arm, "I want to stay with Captain Nyate! I've already pledged my loyalty to him!"

Hidabat sighed, "Please, Sailornyan, I don't think Nate is in the mood for this kind of thing…"

Nate gave a strange look, pulling up from his bed, Sailornyan still clinging to him as he stood up.

"Nyoooo! I want to stay here! Please, Captain Nyate, don't send me away!"

Nate lifted his arm, staring at the cat yo-kai's pleading eyes, he couldn't help but find her a bit adorable, but he shook his head, turning to Hidabat questioningly, "Hidabat, what exactly is going on here? What do you mean by 'go back to your room?'"

"I'm pretty sure he just means for her to go back to her own home, of course!" Whisper spoke up assuredly, Nate didn't look convinced by that.

Hidabat looked surprised at the question, before something seemed to click for him, "Oh-Oh dear, did I forget to tell you!? Ah, I'm so embarrassed!" the timid yo-kai hid his face as he shook in place.

Nate and Whisper gave their housemate an odd look, while Sailornyan dropped down from Nate's arm and had started hugging his leg.

"I'm so sorry Nate! I've just been a bit busy with everything, and um…" the bat yo-kai drooped a bit with an awkward cough, "You know, it would probably be easier just to show you." Motioning for the others to follow, Hidabat retreated to the closet.

Nate and Whisper shared a strange look, before shrugging and following, Sailornyan was sure to stick close to Nate as she also followed…

* * *

After entering the closet, there was a surprise to be found when Hidabat hit a button on the wall, opening another door at the back of the closet, with Hidabat leading them into it, revealing it to be an elevator…

What the elevator took them down to, however, was more surprising…

"Welcome to The Adams-Yo-kai Apartment," Hidabat introduced, gesturing out to a long hallway, lined with doors, with the hallway splitting off into more halls down the line, with many more doors…

"An… An apartment!?" Whisper gave a shocked look at this idea. "_Under_ the Adams household!?"

"Hidabat, how long has this been here…?" Nate questioned with an amazed expression as they walked through the expansive halls.

"It's a recent development, though work on it has been going for several months," Hidabat explained as he led the group around a corner. "Mark Orckerberg had advised me on the financing of this project, though I had done most of the paperwork myself. The actual building of the extra-dimensional space was done by a yo-kai I hired whom is an expert of that kind of work; Eyephoon."

"How did none of us notice this going on…?" Whisper questioned as he gawked out how _large_ the apartment building seemed to be.

"I did my best to make sure the work didn't disturb the daily routines of anyone in the house," Hidabat answered as they turned a corner and entered what looked like a lounge of sorts. "Though doing so may have been what caused informing you all of it to slip my mind…"

"You really should have asked permission before you went and did something like this, Hidabat," Whisper sighed disappointedly, crossing his arms.

"I don't really mind, so long as it's not too disruptive," Nate gave a kind smile, petting Sailornyan behind the ears, inciting a purr out of her. "If I'm going to summon yo-kai for aid, I don't really see why they shouldn't be able to stay here, and Hidabat already went through all the trouble after all…"

Hidabat looked thankful towards the human.

Whisper, however, seemed a bit surprised by his master's perspective on the sudden appearance of this apartment.

The human turned to his butler, a small smirk on his face, "Besides, with all the potential new yo-kai residents, you'll finally get a chance to show off those hosting skills of yours!"

Whisper froze up, a nervous expression coming to his face, before he quickly hid it, forcing a laugh, "Er, yes, of course, Nate! You have a great point there! I am a butler after all, and um… hosting is high up there in my skill-set, yes!"

Nate's expression was an unconvinced one, but he didn't question his yo-kai butler as he started looking around the lounge.

"Hey, Nate!"

Feeling a sudden rush of warm air, Nate looked over and wasn't too surprised to see a red, dog-like yo-kai approaching, "Swelterrier, you're living here?"

**Charming Tribe: Swelterrier**

The fiery dog yo-kai nodded, a smile on his face as he walked over to the human, "Yeah, it's a pretty nice place, and there are systems in place to make each room the most comfortable temperature for the occupant!" the S-Rank smiled widely as he held a hand out to Nate, "I really gotta thank you for allowing us to have such a nice place to stay, this apartment is– "

Nate jumped back in surprise as Swelterrier's words were cut off by a rush of cold air and frost covering him.

"Terry, I said _I_ was going to thank Nate first!" the floating, icy woman, scolded as she floated over, turning to Nate, with her stern expression changing to a sweet smile. "Hey there, Nate!"

Nate took an awkward step back from the shivering, partially iced-over Swelterrier, "Um, hi Blizzaria… nice to see you…"

**Charming Tribe: Blizzaria**

Blizzaria's smile widened, a slight tinging of pink gracing her cheeks, "It's so good to see you too, Nate! I can't thank you enough for allowing this wonderful apartment to be have been made, that so many of us can now call home!"

"I um, really didn't have much to do with it," Nate smiled unsurely, before Blizzaria drifted closer to him, and stunned him as she gave him a chilly kiss on the cheek.

"Well… that was unexpected," Whisper commented with wide eyes, backing up a bit.

Hidabat seemed unsurprised by this sudden action.

Sailornyan subtly growled, gripping Nate's pantleg possessively.

The snow woman giggled at the human boy's stunned expression as she pulled away, giving him a sly look, "I'm at room 1-03, come visit anytime." Giving a wink, Blizzaria drifted back over to the frozen Swelterrier. "Come along Terry! There are several things I wish to discuss with you, on… a certain matter of interest to me that maybe you can help with…" the ice-attribute yo-kai gave a mysterious chuckle, glancing towards Nate one more time, before dragging her frozen companion off.

"H-Help, m-me…" Swellterrier pleaded weakly as he was dragged down a hall by his friend/tormentor…

Unfortunately for the dog yo-kai, Nate was still frozen in shock, a hand to his still-chilly cheek. Whisper was very-purposely looking away, Sailornyan was still possessively holding on to Nate, and Hidabat was too timid to move forward…

After the two residents had left, the four remained in the lounge in silence, for several moments.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll be happy to show you more of the apartment," Hidabat spoke up, specifically looking towards the human boy…

* * *

It took several more minutes, but Hidabat finally got the group to continue the tour of the apartment, with them walking down the halls again…

"Well, Nate," Whisper spoke up, looking back towards his master with an amused expression, "Seems Blizzaria has been indoctrinated into your 'harem,' quite unexpectedly…"

"No, no! That's not what that was!" Nate quickly, and unconvincingly, denied. "She was just… showing gratitude! That's all that kiss meant!"

"I don't care what it meant, I don't like _that woman_…" Sailornyan snarled, clinging to Nate's leg as she walked beside him.

Nate glanced down at the pink nekomata with a slight bit of confusion, before he kneeled down and took her into his arms.

"Nya?" Sailornyan blinked in surprise as she was lifted into the air.

"If you're going to stick that close to me, I might as well just carry you," Nate gave a gentle smile to the feline, patting her head a bit.

Sailornyan purred, giving Nate an adoring look as she snuggled into his arms.

Nate stared at the affectionate nekomata in his arms, already feeling strangely attached to her, despite only meeting her this morning…

"Every room has a kitchen nook, but there's a more expansive, community kitchen over here," Hidabat was explaining some more of the details for the apartment, leading them over to where the community kitchen was, and where some yo-kai were already present.

"Yo Nate! Great to see you finally checking out the apartment!" the blue-skinned kappa greeted happily, seated at a table and eating some sushi, along with some pizza and cucumbers… an odd combination.

**Charming Tribe: Walkappa**

"Rah! Rah!" a flaming lion yo-kai waved, standing in front of a microwave, with a burrito cooking.

**Brave Tribe: Blazion**

"Oh, you guys are here too!" Nate greeted happily as he approached his two yo-kai friends, careful to make sure Sailornyan remained comfortable as he carried her.

"Yeah man, this place is awesome!" Walkappa praised with a thumbs-up. "Hidabat really pulled out all the stops!"

"Rah! RAH!" Blazion cheered enthusiastically, thrusting a fist into the air.

Nate turned his smile towards Hidabat, noticing how he seemed a bit sheepish about the praise, before chuckling.

"Nya!" Sailornyan happily nuzzled Nate, causing him to laugh more.

Whisper looked towards Nate and Sailornyan, a suspicious look coming to his face, "Hmm…?"

* * *

"Hey, Hidabat," Nate spoke up questioningly as they walked through the halls again.

"Yeah, Nate?" The bat-like yo-kai answered with a blink.

"Do the yo-kai here think I had something to do with this…?" the boy asked curiously, stroking Sailornyan's ears a bit, inciting a happy 'nya' in response. "Every yo-kai we've run into doesn't seem surprised to see me, and act thankful to me, even though I had nothing to do with this…"

Hidabat gave a slightly nervous chuckle, "You know, I hadn't even really considered that…" he looked aside, scratching one of his ears a bit, "I suppose they just made the connection on their own, since it is your house… no point correcting them now of course, since you're okay with it and all."

"I suppose…" Nate didn't look too comfortable with taking any credit for something he had nothing to do with, but also didn't see much point in arguing.

As they continued on the tour, Hidabat pointed out several more areas for the residents to hang out, relax, or other such things, though there weren't really many residents at the moment, so it was mostly empty.

Eventually they came to a normal resident room, which the bat yo-kai stopped at.

"Oh, and here's Sailornyan's room," Hidabat gestured to a room labeled '1-07,' "Come on, Sailornyan, you should really stop bothering Nate…"

"Nyooo…" Sailornyan whined, cuddling up to Nate's chest and looking up at him with pleading eyes, "Please, Captain, I want to stay with you! I don't want to leave your side!"

"Stop acting like an infant, you have a room, so you should return to it! If you want to visit Nate, he's a short elevator trip away!" Whisper scolded as he glared at the pink nekomata.

Nate ignored Whisper's words, staring at the feline in his arms, the attachment he had been feeling growing towards her only stronger now. Keeping a firm, yet gentle hold on the cat yo-kai, Nate smiled, before looking towards the bat yo-kai, "You know what Hidabat, I think I've changed my mind."

"Huh?" Hidabat blinked.

"What!?" Whisper gawked.

"Really!?" Sailornyan looked up hopefully, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, Sailornyan; you can move into my room," Nate assured the pink feline, giving her an affectionate pet on the head.

"Um, Nate, are you sure that's a very good idea?" Whisper questioned as he hovered over to the boy's side.

Nate gave a confident smile, "It's fine Whisper; I've gotten used to having a cat around after all, and this little girl doesn't seem like she'd be much trouble!"

Sailornyan cheered, nuzzling the boy's face, "Oh, thank you Captain Nyate! I _love_ you!"

From Nate's smile, and how he continued to pet the cat, it was clear he didn't think much about that declaration of love, but Whisper seemed to think otherwise, staring at the pink nekomata with concern and suspicion…

"Oh, alright…" Hidabat seemed to accept the idea more easily, "I'll mark this room down as vacant than, Sailornyan can come and retrieve any of her personal items later on."

Sailornyan gave more cheers and purrs, licking Nate's cheek, inciting some laughter from the boy.

* * *

Nate continued to carry the affectionate Sailornyan throughout the rest of the tour, and before long they were back at the elevator.

"This was all really amazing, Hidabat," Nate smiled as the bat yo-kai pressed the button for the door to open, having them all step (or float, in Whisper's case) into the elevator.

"It was a rather impressive display, even if we _should_ have known about it beforehand," Whisper commented.

Nate gave his butler a dull look, but quickly looked back towards Hidabat, "I don't really mind that, though, you think you could keep me informed on who moves in," the boy's smile turned sheepish as he asked that question. "I don't have a problem with this or anything, I'd just like to be aware of which yo-kai are around whom could come up into my room at any moment…"

"Of course, Nate, it's the least I can do," Hidabat bowed, before pressing the button that would take them back up to the closet, and Nate's room.

"I can't wait to find the best spots to take my nyaps in your room, Captain!" Sailornyan cheered, gleefully resting in Nate's arms.

"Yes… well, that shouldn't be a very different experience from his last feline roommate," Whisper commented, rolling his eyes, though still glancing at the pink nekomata with slight suspicion…

With a ding, the elevator alerted the group to its return to the closet, and the door opened. Hidabat gave one last bow to Nate as he returned to his stationed computer set-up.

Nate nodded back to the Shady yo-kai, before opening the door to the closet and returning to his room.

"That was a really unexpected experience, wouldn't you say?" Whisper asked as he hovered over the shoulder of his master.

"Yeah, but it's kind of amazing that Hidabat could have set that whole thing up in the first place," Nate smiled, setting Sailornyan down onto the floor, causing her to release a slight whine of protest.

Before the conversation between the two could continue, however, they heard the sound of some shuffling nearby. Looking over they were surprised at the sight of someone they weren't expecting to see again so soon…

"Jibanyan!?" Nate and Whisper both question in shock.

"Oh, hey Whisper, Nyate," the red nekomata waved, rolling up a poster, as well as grabbing some chocobars out from under the desk and stuffing them in his pouch.

Nate stared at the feline yo-kai for a moment, shaking his head, "Jibanyan… um, I thought you moved out? I mean, it's not like I'm not happy to see you, but… why are you here?"

"Oh, you knyow; just gathering up my things, don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon!" Jibanyan smiled, "Amy wants me home before it gets too dark, so I better get moving anyway…" the cat yo-kai trailed off when he noticed another cat hiding behind Nate's leg, glaring at him… "Um, Nyate… who's that…?"

Nate blinked, glancing down, "Oh! Jibanyan, this is– "

"Sailornyan; nyewest addition to Captain Nyates crew!" Sailornyan announced, jumping out from behind the human and giving an aggressive look, "So, you're the feline that went and jumped ship? What gives you the right to trespass into Captain Nyate's quarters so brazenly after doing something like that!?"

Jibanyan just gave a confused look, "Er… what?"

"She's a stray Nate found and grew bit too attached to, a bit too quickly," Whisper commented with a shrug.

Nate glared at Whisper, "That's not the way I'd put it, though I did agree to let her stay here."

"I stand by your side with absolute loyalty, Captain!" Sailornyan cheered, hugging Nate's leg with a quick nuzzle.

Jibanyan stared at the other cat, before something clicked in his head, causing his eyes to narrow, "What the heck Nyate! I'm gone for less than a day and you've already replaced me!?" he accused in an outraged tone.

Nate held up his hands defensively, "It's not like that! She just– "

"Hey, don't you talk in such a disrespectful manner to Captain Nyate!" Sailornyan suddenly shouted, jumping in front of Nate and glaring at the other nekomata.

Jibanyan growled, "'Captain?' He's nyot worthy of being a captain! He's nyot even worthy of being a cabin boy! And I'll talk to him however I want!"

Sailornyan snarled.

Nate tried to step between them, "C-Come on you two, there's no need for any of this…"

"Captain Nyate deserves a subordinyate who will stick by him nyo matter what! You left anyway, so why are you so upset about me 'taking your place!?'"

Jibanyan's eye twitched, before he lunged towards Sailornyan, "'Taking my place!?' You think you could possibly take my place!?"

Nate tried to speak up again but was cut off by Sailornyan.

"Seems I already have, though I wouldn't call it that; I'll be doing much better than taking your place!" Sailornyan insisted with a hiss.

Jibanyan's eye twitched, before he moved closer to Sailornyan, getting in her face with a snarl. "Listen here, you! I don't care if Nyate decided to replace me, someone like you could never replace me!– " the red nekomata's words were cut off as he found himself being lifted up, before he froze up when he saw Nate holding him by the scruff of his neck, giving him an angry look.

"That's enough Jibanyan!" Nate shouted while glaring straight into the red feline's arms, before he seemed to calm down a bit, giving an unsure look, "Sailornyan… didn't replace you, she didn't do anything to you, there's no need to get so… aggressive…"

Jibanyan just stared back at the boy in a stunned silence.

Sailornyan swooned as she watched her 'captain' come to her rescue, staring up at him with admiration, "My hero…"

Whisper just stared at the scene, unable to think of a comment to give.

Jibanyan kept staring at Nate, a hurt expression briefly crossing his eyes, before it quickly disappeared and was replaced with more anger, "Well, FINE!" shaking himself out of the boy's grip, the male cat jumped back over to his packed up things, gathering them up and heading to the door. "I'm going back to Amy's, where I'm _appreciated_! Have fun with your little pink cat!" he headed out the door, before looking back briefly, "Oh, and if you have a problem, don't bother summonying me!" with a final huff, Jibanyan left.

Feeling his anger deflating, Nate suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him, "W-wait, Jibanyan!" he tried to call, but the red nekomata was already gone…

"Well… you could have handled that better," Whisper commented bluntly.

"That guy was a jerk, where does he get off talking to Captain Nyate like that?" Sailornyan huffed as she glared at the door, before she noticed her 'captain' giving a bit of a groan, she quickly started rubbing up against his leg affectionately, in an attempt to cheer him up.

Nate sighed sadly, patting the pink feline on the head, wondering if he might have been a bit too protective of Sailornyan…

* * *

"Don't worry Nate, Jibanyan will get over it sooner or later," Whisper tried to assure as he followed his master down the stairs. "Or if not, I'm sure Amy will make sure he apologizes for being so rude to his 'papa' at some point…"

"Please do not remind me of _that_," Nate grunted, making his way to the living room, the smell of dinner being made caught his nose, and he glanced over at the kitchen; it was his father's turn to cook, so seeing him wasn't surprising, but he hadn't expected to see Toiletta helping him…

"The stew is almost done," Toiletta smiled as she lifted the lid of the pot.

"Wow, I'm impressed Hanako," Aaron praised the girl, "You were a big help… you know I think you'd make a great wife for Nate someday!"

Toiletta let out a giggle, putting a hand to her cheek as she blushed, "Oh, do you really think so? I might like that…"

Nate stared, his expression turning to one of horror at the idea of _marrying_ Toiletta, though he tried to resist, he couldn't help imagining it…

* * *

"_Nathan Adams, do you take this toilet ghost to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Whisper, in the garb of a minister, questioned as he looked towards the boy._

"_I do," Nate's voice answered, even as he internally screamed 'no!'_

"_And do you, Toiletta, take this average boy to be your lawfully wedded husband?"_

"_I do!" the female yo-kai, hovering with a wedding dress that was too big for her dragging on the floor, answered with a wide, eager smile and a blush on her face._

_Whisper nodded, "Well, if there are not any here whom thinks these two should not be wed…"_

_Nate tried to scream, but nothing came out of his mouth, he glanced over the audience, hoping somebody would say something, but everyone, from his parents, to his beloved Katie, seemed all too happy for this union to happen…_

"_I now pronounce you; average husband and toilet wife!" Whisper announced proudly, "You may kiss the bride, and go swim in the toilet together!"_

_Nate's internal screaming kept increasing as Toiletta turned him toward her, their faces slowly moved towards each other…_

* * *

"NOOOO!" Nate suddenly shouted, alerting his father and Toiletta to his presence, but before they could question him on why he was screaming, the boy had already fled back up the stairs.

The father and yo-kai both blinked, before exchanging equally confused looks…

* * *

Later that night, Nate lay in his bed, Sailornyan curled up and soundly sleeping at the foot of his bed, the boy trying to get his mind off the nightmarish vision he had earlier…

As he thought back to the Toiletta's reaction to the idea of someday being his wife, he shuddered… she hadn't seemed displeased. He had suspicions before, but now the boy was really starting to suspect that the school getting too noisy wasn't the female ghost's _primary_ motivation for moving into his home…

Plus, the way Blizzaria had acted earlier, though he tried to deny it when Whisper said she had become part of his 'harem,' maybe there was something to that…

Before Nate could consider any of these scary thoughts further, the sound of his closet door sliding open caught his attention, and before he could react, a large number of letters were dropped onto him, "What the!?"

"Nya…" Sailornyan grunted, shifting uncomfortably in her sleep, but she didn't wake up.

"Hey, Nate," Hidabat waved, flying just a bit above the bed.

"Hidabat, what the heck?" Nate questioned, careful not to yell and risk waking his feline companion.

"You asked me to keep you informed on the apartments inhabitants, right?" Hidabat tilted his head. "Those are applications for new residents, I need you to approve or deny them."

Nate stared at the timid yo-kai blankly, "Wait, what…?"

"I've officially put you in charge of approving applicants, that way you'll always know who moves in," Hidabat spoke in a way that implied he thought he was doing Nate a favor. "It's not hard, all you have to do is read the information, as well as the applicant's written letter on why they want to live in the apartment, and check the 'approved' or 'denied' box, then just get them back to me and I'll take care of the rest!"

Nate kept staring at Hidabat, before looking to the large pile of letters that had been dumped all over his bed, "… _All_ of these…?"

Hidabat, "Yeah, it would probably be best if you got started on those ones soon, I'll go get the rest," the bat yo-kai gave another nod to the boy, before heading back to the closet.

Nate just stared at the pile of papers, his mind nearly shutting down, '_The rest…?_' Nate started to let out a noise somewhere between a whimper and a groan…

* * *

In a room that was blue from all the cold air that emitted through it, Swelterrier sat on a chair, shivering from the frost that covered half his body, but also from the fear he felt towards the being that had entrapped him here…

"Yes, yes," Blizzaria chuckled as she looked over an elaborate series of instructions she had written on a white board, turning back to the dog yo-kai with a manic grin, "You see all this Terry? If we just follow the plan, Nate will be _mine_!" the yuki-onna giggled as a light blush crossed her face, before she sent a crazed look towards the terrified Swelterrier. "You'll help me, _won't you_ Terry…?"

"Um… Bli-Blizzaria, this seems a bit…" the heat-powered yo-kai stuttered, trying to voice his misgivings, but as the snow woman kept staring at him, with a look in her eyes that promised something far worse than mere pain if he chose to get in her way… "Um, I think it's a great idea! And-and, you are definitely the one that should be Nate's girlfriend, I d-don't think there's any girl more fitting!" the canine yo-kai forced a smile.

Blizzaria stared at her captive for a moment, before she let out a giggle, twirling around before floating over to Swelterrier and clasping one of his hands between hers, "Oh, thank you! I _knew_ you'd understand Terry! With your help, I just know Nate will come to see that he and I _belong together_, very soon…" the ice yo-kai let out a few more giggles, turning more crazed as she continued…

"Y-Yeah, it will… be great," Swelterrier forced himself to laugh along with his deranged captor, glancing towards 'the plan…' '_I'm sorry Nate…_'

* * *

Well, there's the next chapter. I don't have much to say on it, but I hope it was enjoyable.

Next time: The problems with the toilets are cleared, meaning it's time to go back to school. But Nate doesn't want to face the 'harem' again, so he makes himself sick with a little yo-kai help in order to stay home, however this doesn't go as he would hope…


	6. No Escape!

**Chapter 6: No Escape!**

* * *

The sun rose high into the sky above Springdale, the sounds of birds chirping becoming audible to many who were just waking. And for those that never went to sleep…

"So many applications…" Nate muttered tiredly, his head hanging onto his desk and bags under his eyes. '_An awful lot of them seemed to be female yo-kai… NO! Not thinking about that!_' "The point is… I got through all of them," the boy let out a loud yawn. "At least… there's no school still, so I can… get some sleep…" the boy started to drift off at his desk.

"Nate, the school called! The problems with the plumbing have been cleared up! So, you best get ready!"

The sound of his mother's voice, or rather, the words she said, snapped Nate out of any attempt at peaceful sleep he wanted. '_NOOOOO!_'

"Nate, what's wrong…?" Whisper questioned tiredly as he floated over to his master.

Sailornyan let out a yawn, but didn't awaken, continuing to slumber on Nate's bed.

"I… I can't go to school, I'm… I'm so tired…" Nate whimpered, his head falling to his hands. "And the harem, oh the _harem_! I can't deal with that right now! I… I need a way out of this!"

Whisper crossed his arms as he looked at his master with a bit of sympathy, "Look, I'm sorry Nate, but you don't really have a choice. It's not like you can just summon a yo-kai to make you sick so you'd have to stay home from school or something."

Nate's body froze, his eyes widening, "Whisper… you're a genius!" the boy smiled madly towards his butler, getting to his feet and moving over to the yo-kai medallium.

"A genius? Well, nice that you finally noticed!" Whisper smiled widely at the complement, before he noticed the boy looking through the book of yo-kai medals. "Er, Nate, what are you– "

"Here he is!" Nate gave a slightly unstable sounding laugh as he held up the yo-kai medal, before he inserted it into his yo-kai watch, "Come on out my friend! Calling, Coughkoff!"

"What the–Coughkoff!?" Whisper gaped in shock.

"Yo-kai medal, do you're thing!" as Nate finished his summoning chant, the watch came to life with lights and the mechanical voice.

"**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE EERIE TRIBE! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'M EERIE!"**

From the purple summoning circle formed a brown yo-kai resembling an urchin, but floating and with a mouth, from within a blue eye could be seen, "Coughkoff!"

**Eerie Tribe: Coughkoff**

"Hey kid, how's it going?" the spiky yo-kai greeted. "No wait let me guess! You need a sick day?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Nate questioned with a bit of surprise.

"I've seen my fair share of kids in desperate need of a day off from school, and you look worse than all of them!" Coughkoff chuckled, letting out a few coughs along the way. "Anyway, you don't want to go to school? No problem! I'll make you so sick your mom won't even let you out of bed!"

"Oh, thank you Coughkoff!" Nate moved to hug the summoned yo-kai, but quickly regretted it, "OW!"

"Yeah, sorry about that kid," Coughkoff sweatdropped as the human jumped back from his spiky body. "Not really the hugging type…"

"I… should have thought that through better," Nate muttered with a shake of his head.

Coughkoff gave another chuckle, "I like you kid, so don't worry about giving me anything in return. Anyway, how sick do you want to be?"

Nate paused with thought, "Er… just hit me with your best shot, I suppose."

"You sure about that? My 'best shot' can be pretty nasty…"

"Hold on! Nate, I may be a bit out of line in saying this, but; ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Whisper shouted, getting between the boy and other yo-kai, flailing his arms around crazily "You can't just make yourself sick to miss school! That's not right, and it's not good for you!"

"It's just for today! I _can't_ go to school today!" Nate whimpered, before looking passed Whisper, "Coughoff, please, do it!"

Seeing the desperation in the boy's eyes, Coughkoff nodded, "Alright kid, I'll give it everything I've got!"

"Nate!" Whisper tried to protest but seeing the sickness-based yo-kai charging up his power, the yo-kai butler quickly retreated to the other end of the room.

"Here goes nothing!" Coughkoff let out some coughs, before he shot an aura of purple energy towards the human.

Nate closed his eyes and held his arms out wide…

* * *

"Hanako, here you go," Lily smiled, handing some money to the young girl.

"Money?" Toiletta looked confused as she held the currency up.

"Yes, it's for the school's cafeteria, I hope you have a good first day at school," the adult woman gave a motherly smile.

Toiletta averted her eyes from the beaming visage, letting out an embarrassed cough, "Well, uh, thank you…" for the first time since she had moved into the Adams household, the ghost girl felt the faintest twinge of guilt towards her deception of this woman… "I should be fine; Nate will be with me."

Lily nodded, before glancing towards the stairs, "Speaking of, where is he? Nate! You did hear me right!?"

"Mooom…"

The mother's expression changed to one in concern at the strange, groaning tone of her son's voice, before she saw him trudging down the stairs, "Nate…?"

"Mom… I don't feel so good…" Nate moaned, walking towards the kitchen area, but swerving a bit.

Lily eyes grew, as did her concern, as she got a good look at her son; his face seemed discolored, his posture was slumping, and there were large bags under his bloodshot eyes, "Nate, what's wrong?" moving over to the boy, she placed a hand on his forehead.

"I just… don't feel very good, maybe I caught something…" Nate muttered in a dizzy tone.

Lily gasped as she pulled her hand back, "Sweetie, you're burning up!" the mother exclaimed in worry, quickly grabbing her son by the arm and leading him back towards the stairs. "No school for you today, young man! Straight to bed!"

"Oh… are you sure…?" Nate muttered a bit dizzily, relieved that his plan seemed to be working, but a bit unsure if maybe have asked Coughkoff to give him his 'best shot,' with how lightheaded he was feeling…

Toiletta watched this exchange, following the two back up the stairs with a bit of concern in her eyes.

* * *

Tucking her son back into bed, Lily looked down at him with concern. "You just try to rest; I'll bring you some breakfast in a bit."

"Thanks mom…" Nate grunted tiredly.

Toiletta watched from the doorway, she spied both Whisper and Coughkoff floating in the room (as well as Sailornyan, still sleeping at the foot of Nate's bed…) a good idea of how Nate had gotten sick forming in her head…

"Come on, Hanako," Lily spoke up as she walked out of the room, taking 'Hanako' by the hand, and closing the door behind her, "We should let Nate rest, and _you_ need to get to school."

"I can help take care of Nate, _pleeeeease_!" Toiletta looked at Lily with large, 'puppy-dog' eyes.

The adult woman was not impressed, giving a small smirk, "Nice try, Hana, but I've been a mom too long for that to work on me. You don't think Nate hadn't tried that dozens of times back when he was tiny and cuter?"

"I could imagine…" the ghost girl put a hand to her cheek as she started blushing a bit, imagining an adorable little Nate with large, shimmering eyes…

Lily chuckled, patting the 'transfer student' on the head, "Go on to school, Hanako. Nate will be here when you get back."

Crossing her arms, Toiletta gave a huff, before reluctantly nodding, "Fine, I'll go."

"Yes, because it's not a discussion; _you're going_," The mother stated plainly.

"That's _what_ I said," Toiletta grumbled, turning to walk away.

"Don't you get snippy with my, young lady!" the bespectacled woman scolded, her eyes narrowing a bit.

Toiletta flinched, "Sorry, but… it won't be any fun without Nate there…"

Lily's expression turned sympathetic, smiling gently, she placed a hand on the spirit girl's head, "It will be fine, just try to get along with everyone and have a good time, and when you get back home, then you can help take care of Nate. Okay?"

Toiletta's face turned a bit red from embarrassment, nodding slowly, "Alright, I'll try…"

"Captain, you're unwell!" Sailornyan's frantic voice was heard from the room.

'_I guess she woke up…_' Toiletta thought, a flash of jealousy going through her mind, which she quickly stomped down, '_She's a cat, she's no threat…_'

"Hanako?" Lily questioned, noticing how she had started staring at Nate's door. "Nate will be fine; he just needs rest."

"Right…" Toiletta nodded, looking up at the human woman. "I… should get to school…"

* * *

"So, has anyone seen Nate in the past couple days…?" Katie asked carefully as she stood in the classroom alongside Eddie and Bear, several other students standing around the class, with others still coming in.

"Nah, we last heard from him a couple days ago when we had plans at the arcade, but…" Bear shuddered a bit at that memory.

"Yeah, he never showed up…" Eddie sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hm, I haven't heard from him at all," Katie muttered with a blink.

"Maybe we should ask one of his _girlfriends_?" Bear suggested, a bit of a scoff in his tone.

Oh, come on, Bear," Eddie sighed, he and Katie both rolling their eyes at their friend's resentment.

"Nate isn't responsible for all the other girls going gaga over him, no matter how _weird_ it is," Katie spoke in her friend's defense. "You getting mad at him about it isn't going to endear you to anyone here."

"Yeah man, I'm annoyed too, but Nate suddenly having so much popularity isn't really something we can justifiably be mad at him about," Eddie stated plainly. "Even if it does get a bit irritating at times…"

"Whatever, I still think we should ask some of 'em, they might have seen him," the larger boy insisted in an annoyed tone.

Katie glanced over at Sarah and Chelsea, happily chatting with each other, considering if maybe she should ask…

However, any of thoughts of this were halted by the Mr. Johnson's entrance to the room, prompting all the students to take their seats.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome back!" the teacher greeted brightly.

"Good morning, Mr. Johnson!" the class greeted back.

"So, first, I would like to say that unfortunately, Nathan Adams is sick today, so he won't be joining us," after the teacher gave this statement, a collective groan of disappointment sounded from nearly every girl in class sounded.

'_Nate's sick…?_' Katie thought with a bit of concern, '_is that why I haven't seen him lately…?_'

"Next matter of importance; it seems we have a transfer student today!" the teacher smiled at a girl whom stepped into the room at that moment, even though a good deal of the students were put off by the _creepy_ air that seemed to surround her, or the _eerie_ look in her eyes. "So, young lady, why don't you introduce yourself?"

The 'young lady' stared ahead, her eyes blank, and her mouth nothing more than a line, before she nodded, and her mouth _twisted_ into a creepy grin, "Of course, sir." Bowing to the class she continued, "Hello everyone, my name is Hanako Letrina, I'm a foreign exchange student from Spain, and I hope I can become good friends with you all."

The tone of 'Hanako's' voice did nothing to ease the unsettling feeling many of the students picked up from her; it wasn't anything particular they could pick up about her tone, but something was just off about the way she spoke, along with the way she moved, the way she looked… it all was hard to pinpoint, but something about her just gave off an uncanny sensation; like she was _almost_ human, but something was just _off_…

These collective thoughts, of course, remained unspoken as the students responded to the transfer student's greeting. "Hello, Hanako!"

Mr. Johnson apparently didn't notice the tension in the room, giving a bright smile to his class, before looking at 'Hanako' again, "Your transfer was rather sudden, but I hope you can find enjoyment in our class, you can take that free seat in the back, next to Mark."

Mark stiffened a bit, not liking the idea of this strange girl being seated next to him…

'Hanako frowned ever so slightly, before she pointed towards an empty seat towards the front of the class, "Excuse me sir, but can't I take that seat?"

Mr. Johnson shook his head, "Sorry Ms. Letrina, but that's Nathan's seat, it's only empty because he is out sick today."

'Hanako' nodded slowly, putting a hand to her chin, "Oh, so that's where Nate sits…" she smiled, "I suppose I wouldn't want to take Nate's seat, even if he's not here, he's been ever so nice to me! I'll have to be sure to tell him of anything interesting that happens today when I get back home."

That statement caught a large amount of the classes' attention.

"Wait, what does that mean, creepy girl!?" Meg suddenly shouted, standing up from her seat and glaring at the new girl, beating any of the other girls from calling her on the comment.

"Megan Jones! That outburst was unacceptable!" The teacher scolded, giving the pigtailed girl a stern look.

"Oh, don't worry sir, I was expecting such a response…" 'Hanako' waved her hand, before looking directly at Meg with a wide-stretching grin, "And what I meant is exactly what you heard; I'll be going home to Nate later… because we live together, one could say… like _a couple_."

"A… a _couple_!?" Meg shivered at the way the creepy girl had said that, shakily sitting back down as she growled.

"That can't be true…" Maya hissed from her seat, but not as loudly as to incite a scolding from the teacher.

Mr. Johnson looked a bit awkward, glancing down at new student, "Erm… Hanako, I know the Adams are hosting you, but–"

"Oh, of course, Nate and I are just friends!" 'Hanako' chuckled eerily, waving a dismissive hand. "Just a little humor sir, though I would say Nate and I are rather close…"

Bear glanced at Eddie questioningly, "Hey, man, did you know this girl was living with Nate?"

Eddie didn't answer, staring at 'Hanako' with an unsure expression.

"… Eddie?" Bear questioned again, tapping the other boy on the shoulder.

Eddie jumped a bit, "Ah, oh, sorry Bear…" he shook his head when he looked back at his friend, before narrowing his eyes at the new student. "But… I don't know where, but I feel like I've seen that girl before…"

"Well… she did say she lives with Nate," Bear pointed out.

Eddie didn't seem satisfied with that response.

Katie was also staring at 'Hanako' intently, '_Where have I seen her before…?_'

'Hanako' gave a smug grin to the various girls that looked at her with jealousy at the fact she was living with Nate, paying no heed to the few suspicious looks she got. Making her way to the back of the class and taking her seat, ignoring how Mark was trying to look anywhere but towards her.

"I'm happy to be here, and ready to learn…" the newcomer to the class insisted, a crooked grin on her face as she looked towards the teacher…

* * *

"Ug… I already kind of regret this…" Nate muttered to himself while resting in his bed, turning to his side and coughing a bit. He had already eaten the breakfast his mother had brought for him, and though it had helped him feel a bit better, he was still feeling rather out of it. "But… at least I don't need to deal with any harem…"

A calm silence fell into the room, and Nate allowed himself to get comfortable, and hopefully rest off the sickness Coughkoff had given him. Once he was better… well, he'd get to that when he got to that.

The silence was disrupted by the sound of the closet door sliding open, and a female voice, "Excuse me Hidabat."

Nate twitched a bit, trying to look up to see who had come, and finding himself being looked down on by the floating form of a beautiful snow woman…

"Oh no, you really are sick!" Blizzaria cried out in concern, looking over Nate with a caring eye, before nodding. "Well… don't you worry! Nurse Blizzaria will tend to your every want and need!" the snow woman exclaimed eagerly, hovering over the sick boy's bed.

Nate blinked, "Nurse… Blizzaria?" he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Captain Nyate!" an excited Sailornyan suddenly shouted, bursting into the room, holding a bowl in paws. "I made you chicken soup!"

"Go away!" Blizzaria snapped.

"Nyeow!?" Sailornyan cried out as Blizzaria picked her up, froze her in a block of ice, before going over to the window, opening it, and tossing her out.

"What was that…?" Nate tried to look up, unaware of what had just transpired. "I thought I heard Sailornyan a second ago…"

"Oh, no I think that's just your fever playing tricks on you," Blizzaria grinned innocently, shutting the window behind her.

"Hm…" Nate looked unsure, but those thoughts were cut off by a pained groan.

"Now, now, you need rest, not stress!" the ice-attribute yo-kai insisted, floating over to him and stroking his hair a bit. "You are sick, and I will make it my duty to care for you until you are well!"

"I _asked _Coughkoff to get me sick so I could avoid going to school, I probably don't deserve your attentive care…" Nate tried to reason.

"Nonsense!" Blizzaria shook her head, moving down to the boy and feeling his forehead. "Regardless of _how_ you got sick, intentional or not, you are still ill! And an ill boy like you needs lots of TLC: tender loving care!"

Nate gave a bit of a whimper as Blizzaria hovered over to him and tucked him under the covers, and kissed him on the forehead, sending a chill through him, though he barely noticed as he started to fade in and out of consciousness. '_Yup, Coughkoff definitely overdid it…_'

Blizzaria put a hand to boys forehead, pulling it back immediately after, "Oh dear, you're really burning up, sweetie!" a loving smile formed on the yuki-onna's face, widening when the boy didn't voice any protest to how she referred him (mostly because he was pretty out of it.) "Don't you worry, I'll take care of everything for you…"

"Oh, so it is true what I heard," another female voice gasped.

Blizzaria's eyes widened, glaring at the window where the voice had come from, "Insomni!?"

"That's me…" the one-eyed djinn giggled as she fazed through the window, floating into the room, blowing a kiss and giving a bow.

**Earie Tribe: Insomni**

"Oh, there's my Nate! I heard you weren't feeling well," the cycloptic spirit chimed, drifting over to the boy's bedside, looking down at him with a half-closed eye and a playful smile. "Since I intend to move into that apartment down under your house soon, it would be best to demonstrate my usefulness as a caretaker to you…"

"Huh… Insomni? Apartment…?" Nate muttered, looking up at the purple yo-kai with a bit of dizziness in his eyes, he let out a pained moan.

"Yes, I assume you've already approved my application," Insomni smiled, before a concerned look came to her face, putting a hand to the boy's forehead. "But my dear, you're really burning up! It's a good thing I've come, don't you worry! Nurse Insomni will be sure to give you all the loving care you need!"

Blizzaria's eye twitched, her hands clenching into fists as she glared at the intruder, before she floated over to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, "Nate already has a nurse! And that's me!"

Insomni looked at Blizzaria with a dull look in her eye, "Hmm, you? I suppose you could help…" the newcomer barely regarded the yuki-onna as she shrugged. "It's always good to have an ice machine available for a patient with a fever!"

"Ice machine!?" Blizzaria's teeth clenched as her eyes nearly turned red from rage, before she pointed an accusatory finger at the other female spirit. "Nate is sick and needs his rest!" she snapped, getting between the purple yo-kai and human boy. "You keeping him awake will only make things worse! And where did you even hear he was sick from anyway!?"

"Whisper posted it on Kai-net," the cyclops answered simply.

"Whisper…" Blizzaria hissed angrily.

"And as for the issue of my powers," Insomni huffed, putting her hands to where her hips would be as she glared at the ice-powered yo-kai, "You really think I hadn't thought of that?"

"And that's where I come in," another voice chimed, stopping Blizzaria from questioning Insomni further. The voice sounded similar to Insomni's, though a bit softer and with a more soothing tone. A giggle was heard from the voice as another yo-kai drifted in from the window.

"What the…?" Blizzara gawked as what appeared to be a _second_ Insomni moved to the first's side. Wide-eyed, the ice yo-kai looked between the two one-eyed females, aside from the fact that the new one had a different color scheme; pale skin, red-hair, and a bright bluish-green eye, in contrast to the other's purple skin, white hair, and piercing red eye. The yuki-onna looked between both djinns with clear apprehension, "There's _two_ of you!?"

The two near-identical twins shared a giggle as they glanced to each other.

"She's rather dim, isn't she, sister?" the new 'Insomni' commented mockingly.

Insomni put a hand to her mouth as she giggled, "Yes, with how often unrelated yo-kai look alike, you'd think two sisters could get away with it without every passerby gawking!"

The other 'Insomni' mimicking her sister's actions, "Yes, though I suppose when it comes to beauties such as us, it is going to be expected that we'll turn some heads!"

"Quite right, my ever so lovely twin!" Insomni nodded, letting out a few more laughs.

Blizzaria growled as the two 'Insomnis' laughed at her, before she had enough, "Alright! I get it, who_ is_ she!?"

The twins halted in their amusement, turning to the snow woman with identical, mocking grins.

"Right, where are my manners! This is my twin sister; Sandi!" Insomni introduced, a gesture to her sister.

Sandi bowed, her grin wide and unchanging, "Charmed to meet you, of course!"

**Eerie Tribe: Sandi**

"Er… Sandi…?" Nate grumbled as he started to gain a bit more sense of his surroundings, opening up his eyes, looking a bit surprised at whom was in his room, "Insomni… two Insomnis…?" rubbing his eyes a bit, the boy shook his head. "Am… am I starting to see things?"

Sandi giggled at the boy's confusion, floating over to his bed and just above him, "No you dear cutie, I am Insomni's sister; Sandi. I possess the ability to make sure anyone has a sound sleep, with both my sister and I here, you have no fear of our abilities interfering with your recovery while we nurse you back to health!"

Nate looked unsure, though his drowsy state prevented him from coming to any sort of mental judgement on his full opinion of the situation, letting out a bit of a yawn, he simply nodded, "Well… nice to meet you, I suppose…"

"Likewise," Sandi let out another giggle, producing a yo-kai medal with a bit of a glow from her body, before gently placing it on the boy's desk. "I don't know if you'll remember this, but I'm sure you'll find my medal when you're better!"

Blizzaria growled a bit, moving to snatch the medal from the desk, but was blocked by Insomni.

"Yeah, no! Nate's my '_friend_' too, Blizz, and my sister wants to be his friend as well," the insomnia yo-kai stated, her eye flashing with a red glow, before she chuckled mysteriously.

The yuki-onna glared at the djinn evilly but decided to back off from grabbing the medal.

"So, um…" Nate spoke up a bit weakly, looking between the three females. "Why… are you also here, Insomni, Sandi…?"

"Why, to help take care of you, of course!" Insomni smiled as she turned to look at the boy, floating closer to his bed.

"Yeah, we want to give you all the care and affection you need to get better as soon as possible!" Sandi smiled widely as she looked down at the boy.

"You are…?" Nate blinked, looking a bit unsure on what to think of this.

Sandi's eye sparkled as she looked at the clueless expression on the human boy's face, "Oh, you are just _so cute_!" the pale djinn cheered, grabbing hold of Nate and hugging his face into her chest.

Nate gave muffled screams, flailing his arms around in protest of the suffocating embrace.

Insomni's cheek puffed up out of annoyance, before she floated over to her sister and pulled the boy away from her. "Sister, do not be so brash as to hog this cutie!"

Nate gave a wide gasp for breath after he was freed from the grip of Sandi, looking relieved… before he suddenly found himself in the exact same position again, only with Insomni.

"I knew him longer, I deserve to snuggle with him first!" the purple djinn stated firmly, keeping hold on the human boy.

Sandi pouted, crossing her arms, "Well that hardly seems fair, considering I've known him for a much shorter time I should be able to get to know him better!" the red-haired spirit quickly grabbed the boy by the shoulders, and yanked him out of her sister's grip.

Nate took brief opportunity to catch his breath, before he smothered into another suffocating hug from Sandi.

Blizzaria growled as she watched the twins repeatedly take Nate from each other, smothering him with hugs, before the other sister would snatch him back, only to repeat the process moments later. She was about to make her annoyance known, with a big blast of cold air, but she was interrupted by the loud sound of the door slamming open.

Insomni and Sandi paused mid-exchange of the sick, gasping, and _very flustered_ boy, allowing him to drop back to the bed and give a loud gasp both of relief, and for air.

"This room is under quarantine!" Sailornyan shouted as she charged back into the room, glaring at the other three female yo-kai, her body dripping with a noticeable amount of water. "All aside from the Captain nyeed to leave the premise at once, in order to let him recover!" Sailornyan ordered firmly, crossing her arms.

Blizzaria, Insomni, and Sandi paused in their conflict between each other. Sharing a nod, they all glared at Sailornyan, before silently floating over and surrounding her.

The pink nekomata suddenly felt nervous under the gazes of the three higher ranked yo-kai, "Er… please exit and um…"

The next thing Sailornyan knew, she was out in the hall, with Nate's door slammed shut and locked behind her.

"Nya…" the female feline whined as she sat on the floor.

* * *

"Well, that's _one_ annoyance out of the way," Blizzaria scoffed, turning to glare at the cyclops sisters. "Now, I think it's time for you both to go as well."

"Yeah right, I'm not going anywhere!" Insomni scoffed with a fierce glare.

"And If she's not going anywhere, neither am I!" Sandi mimicked her sister's tone and glare exactly.

Hiding any intimidation she felt at the possibility of being ganged up on by the twins, Blizzaria held firm. The yuki-onna seemed to remember something, before she reached into her clothing and pulled out something surprising.

Nate took notice of it, "Wait, is that a… yo-kai watch…?" the boy was still a bit out of it, but he was sure he recognized the device as such, even if it was a bit different.

"Very good, my _darling_ patient," Blizzaria smirked as she held up the ice-blue pendant-type yo-kai watch, modelled to look like a snowflake. "This is a special yo-kai watch I had custom ordered, for my personal use!"

Insomni and Sandi blinked in unison at the explanation, before speaking in sync, "Wait… you can do that?"

"If you know the right people," Blizzaria answered sinisterly, before she pulled a yo-kai medal from her sleeve. "Now then, let's see you be so confident when it's two on two! Come on out my friend! Calling Swelterrier!" she inserted the medal into the watch, causing it to spring to life with a feminine voice.

"**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE CHARMING TRIBE!"**

Nate flinched away from the light of the summoning, covering his face in his pillow to block out the blaring noise of the summoning song.

"Swelterrier!" the red canine yo-kai announced, brandishing his blade with a serious expression on his face. He quickly shook his head, looking towards Blizzaria questioningly, "Wha… why now?"

"Never mind the reasons!" Blizzaria snapped, before pointing towards the djinn twins. "Those two are interfering with Nate's recovery! Get rid of them!"

Both Insomni and Sandi looked offended at that accusation, putting their hands to their waists and speaking in unison, "Interfering? We're just trying to give him some tender loving care!"

Swelterrier seemed to briefly consider questioning Blizzaria, but a cold glare from her had him reconsidering that. The fire attribute yo-kai quickly saluted, "Yes ma'am! I'll get rid of them!" turning a glare to the cycloptic duo, the fiery yo-kai starting charging forward, his body starting to glow as he prepared to unleash a Soultimate move onto them. "Heat– "

"Sleep!" Sandi's eyes flashed as a mist spread from her body and shrouded Swelterrier's.

"Wa– "the dog yo-kai was unable to finish speaking the second half of his Soultimate's name before he collapsed to the floor, snoring.

The djinn duo floated over the sleeping canine, sharing a mischievous giggle.

"Oh, what an adorable sleeping puppy, wouldn't you agree, my lovely sister?" Sandi smiled evilly as she stared down at the slumbering Swelterrier.

"Oh yes, such a sleepy puppy! How kind of you to bring him, Blizzaria!" Insomni mocked as she glanced over at the fuming ice spirit.

"GAH! Useless mutt!" Blizzaria snapped, her face nearly as red as Swelterrier's fur from frustration. She zoomed over to the sisters, looking ready to unleash an attack of ice onto them. "If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself!"

"Or together…" Insomni and Sandi spoke in unison, looking ready to unleash a double attack onto Blizzaria…

"Hold it!" a male voice suddenly interjected.

The three females looked towards the door blankly as Whisper fazed through the door, looking frantic.

"You can't get into a huge battle here!" the yo-kai butler shouted, getting between the feuding females. "Must I remind you of the one you are all here for, whom could be most harmed by this conflict!" the white ghost gestured to the bed.

The three girls blinked, glancing at each other, before looking over at the bed, where a not fully aware, but clearly terrified, Nate lay, staring at them…

"… Oh," Insomni, Sandi, and even Blizzaria looked ashamed as they lowered from their battle-ready stances.

Swelterrier's snoring became more audible as other noise in the room calmed down…

"Alright, now that you three ladies have calmed down," Whisper looked between the three would-be nurses, before he grinned. "I believe I have a _much better_ solution to this dilemma!"

Nate sunk into his covers a bit more, his thoughts clearing a bit, '_I have a bad feeling about this…_'

* * *

"Yo, Hanako, sit with us!" Zoey waved to the new student from a table occupied by only her and Lina in the cafeteria.

Toiletta carried the tray of food she had purchased with the money Nate's mother had given her; chicken nuggets, some peas, a pudding snack, and juice-box. She glanced towards the glasses-wearing girl, shrugging her shoulders before she walked over to join them.

"That's oddly fitting…" Bear commented as he watched the new creepy girl join the two they already knew, from the table he shared with Eddie and Katie.

Both his tablemates said nothing, keeping their eyes on 'Hanako.'

'_I know I've seen her somewhere before…_' Eddie thought with narrowed eyes.

'_Why does she seem so familiar, and why does she make me so uneasy…?_' Katie internally questioned suspiciously.

"… Guys?" Bear looked at his silent friends questioningly, getting no response from them, he shrugged before he just decided to eat his lunch.

"So…" Lina smiled as she looked at 'Hanako,' whom had seated herself on the opposite side of the table to her and Zoey. "Real talk; how close are you and Nate, really?"

Toiletta looked up from her food, glancing between the two girls, before smirking widely, "Oh, do I smell jealousy?"

"Maybe, it depends on how you answer," Zoey chuckled mysteriously.

"I think I like you two," the ghost girl chuckled in the same manner. "We're actually just friends, we sleep in different rooms, and he hasn't really been open to any hints of becoming more I may have offered…"

"Oh, so you're in the same boat as the rest of us?" Lina questioned.

"Suppose so," Toiletta shrugged, before grabbing a nugget and plopping it into her mouth.

Lina and Zoey glanced at each other.

"Should we let her in?" Lina whispered to her glasses-wearing friend.

"Not yet, let's get to know her a bit better first…" Zoey rejected with a serious expression. "We need to pick our future sister-wives carefully…"

"I can clearly hear both of you," the yo-kai girl commented dully.

Lina and Zoey looked away, whistling.

From across the lunchroom, a purple-haired, glasses-wearing girl stared at the 'new girl' with curiosity, "Huh, that's interesting…"

"Hailey, why are you staring at that girl?" Jessica questioned her friend as she sat across from her.

"Oh, nothing, I just think I've met her somewhere before," Hailey chuckled with a dismissive wave, before she started eating her lunch.

* * *

After Whisper's announcement that he had some 'better solution' for how to settle things, he had gone, along with the girls, to prepare… something.

During the time he was waiting, Nate's mother had brought him some lunch; a grilled cheese sandwich, which he had finished already. He was really starting to wonder where Whisper and those girls had gone…

"HELLO SPRINGDALE!" Whisper suddenly shouted, appearing in the center of the room, holding a microphone.

"WAH!?" Nate yelped, his eyes going wide from the sudden reappearance of his butler.

"Welcome to the first ever 'Nate's Nurse Competition!' Where each of our lovely contestants will compete in all manners of care to the patient in question, to decide without a shadow of a doubt, which of them shall be the sick Nathan Adam's nurse for the day!" Whisper commented in the tone of a gameshow host.

"I _still _have bad feeling about this…" Nate commented groggily from his bed.

Whisper ignored the young man's comments as he continued speaking, "Now, let's meet out contestants! First, we have the frosty beauty herself! The princess of ice! The ever illustrious Blizzaria!"

Appearing in a puff of purple smoke, Blizzaria did a twirl and a wink, "I'm ready to win! I'll show Nate just how caring, and _loving_, I can be!"

"Great opening line!" Whisper praised. "Our next contestant is known far and wide as the queen of all-nighters, which isn't a very healthy habit, but in this case, she'll be willing to forgo her normal urges to see to the comfort of her beloved Nate! Please welcome the beautiful Insomni!"

Appearing beside Blizzaria, Insomni did a bow, before she started waving to the nonexistent audience, blowing a few kisses, "Thank you! Thank you!" smiling confidently, the djinn's eye flashed. "I'll never sleep until I am able to give cute little Nate all the love and care I have to offer!"

Whisper chuckled, "Quite an amazing introduction, wouldn't you say?" doing a twirl in the air, the butler ghost nodded. "Our third contestant is a newcomer to this household, though she certainly may _look_ familiar, for she shares those looks with our second contestant! Everyone, give a warm welcome to the Siren of sound sleep; the dreamily stunning Sandi!"

Another plume of smoke burst, before the second djinn appeared beside her sister.

"I promise to do my very best to give that cutie Nate the most caring care, and loving love!" Sandi smiled cutely, joining her hands together to form a heart-shape.

"Ohho! I think I'm feeling healthier myself!" the yo-kai butler praised. "And now for our final contestant! The fuzzy little underdog you don't expect to pull through but darn it if he's not adorable trying! Everyone, please welcome; the wandering guardian, the country lion-dog; Komasan!"

Another burst of smoke appeared, before the small, white-furred lion-dog appeared, smiling while waving, "Why howdy y'all! I don't know too much 'bout medicine, but I'm gonna try my best ta learn all I can!"

Even though there was no actual audience, the other occupants of the room were almost certain they heard an 'awww!' in response to Komasan's opening comment.

Nate just kept staring with a blank expression, "… When exactly did Komasan get here…?"

The three female contestants blinked as one, before they glanced towards the 'odd one out.'

"Wait a minute… when _did_ he get here?" Insomni asked with a tilt of her head.

"And why is he competing to be Nate's nurse…?" Blizzaria questioned dangerously.

Komasan smiled obliviously, apparently completely unaware of any danger he might have been in, "Well I just want to increase my skill-sets and all, and I thought medical care would be mighty useful to know when you're living out in a big ol' dangerous city and all that!"

Blizzaria, Insomni, and Sandi all shared another blank look.

"… Well, you're not threat," the yuki-onna shook her head, turning away from the komainu.

"So long as you're not trying to claim that cutie for yourself," Insomni huffed, also turning away from Komasan.

"He's kind of a cutie himself, in a different way, I don't mind him being here," Sandi giggled as she looked back at Komasan for a moment, before moving to follow her sister.

"Well, now that that's out of the way…" Whisper's smile widened as he floated higher into the air. "Let us get this competition start– "

"I wannya be Captain Nyate's nyurse!" Sailornyan's voice cried out from behind the door, the sounds of her claws scratching at it becoming audible.

"I really thought we got rid of her for good," Blizzaria growled, glaring at the door.

Whisper turned to look at the locked door, sighing a bit, "Sailornyan… you can compete too, but why didn't you just _phase_ through the door?"

The sounds of scratching and 'nyaing' went silent after those words, before a pink form fazed through the door moments later.

"I'm here!" Sailornyan announced with both front paws raised. "And I will be the Captain's nyurse!"

"And it looks like we have a surprise contestant!" Whisper was straight back to commentating. "Introducing; the loyal 'first mate' to her beloved 'Captain Nate!' She'll heal your wounds, but just as readily scratch your eyes out! You might think she has something to do with the moon, but I assure you that is a completely unrelated type of 'sailor!' Please welcome; Sailornyan!"

"Nya!" the pink nekomata did a triumphant mid-air summersault.

"Oh, wowie!" Komasan clapped his paws in amazement.

Blizzaria, Insomni, and Sandi all crossed their arms with equally unimpressed glares, directed at Sailornyan.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, let us get to the competition!" Whisper exclaimed, floating between all the contestants, before moving over to Nate's bed, hovering over the sick boy. "The rules are simple; there will be three events, in which you will be challenged on your ability to give this young man proper care, loving attention, and kept in comfort! You will be allotted points, by me, based on both what I can judge on your ability to treat the conditions of his illness properly, and how happy he seems from your care! And at the end, the one with the most points will be declared Nathan Adams one, and only nurse–for the day!"

The four girls all exchanged intense glares, fiery auras seeming to form around them as they silently expressed how none of them intended to lose…

Komasan just kept smiling, "Wow, this sounds like it'll be a whole lotta fun!"

Whisper nodded, "Let' the games, BEGIN!"

Nate winced from the loud announcement, "I _REALLY_ have a bad feeling about this…"

**Nate's Nurse Competition: Round 1!**

"A proper nurse should be able to make sure their patient is comfortable at all times!" Whisper announced with vigor. "So, the rules of this round are simple; make Nate as comfortable as possible!"

"But I'm already comfortable…" Nate protested from his bed.

Whisper ignored his master's words, "And, START!"

"Hugs are comfortable!" Insomni smiled widely.

"Yes, very!" Sandi nodded in agreement.

The twin djinn giggled as they floated over to the boy, Nate whimpered as his face started to turn red, expecting another round of suffocating embraces.

"No! No to all of that!" Blizzaria shouted, sending a wave of cold air at the cycloptic duo, freezing them solid, causing them to drop to the ground with a resounding crash.

Nate gave a small sigh of relief.

"He needs a comforting chill to feel at his best!" the yuki-onna shouted, floating over the boy's bed, before she waved her hands, causing little snowflakes to start forming and falling onto Nate. "Look, it's snowing!"

Nate looked a bit amazed at the snow… before it started piling on his bed. "Ah, too cold!" the boy started sneezing.

"That's bed!" Sailornyan shouted, jumping onto the bed, melting all the snow with her tail flames, before she glared at Blizzaria. "You have nyo idea how to make the Captain comfortable!"

Blizzaria glared at the nekomata, "Don't make me freeze you again, _cat_…"

"Captain nyeeds kitty snyuggles," Sailornyan insisted, rubbing up against the boy's face.

"Aw, Sailornyan, that's kind of nice…" Nate cooed a bit with a smile, still seeing Sailornyan's affection for him as just being cute, and not romantic in nature…

"NO! HE NEEDS HUGS!" Insomni and Sandi shouted together as they sprung up, their bodies dripping wet from the ice that had, apparently, already thawed out, before they jumped onto the bed, pushing Sailornyan aside, and trapping Nate between them.

"GAH!?" Nate yelped, his face going ablaze in response to the onslaught of hugging from the djinns. '_Though they are kind of pretty, maybe it's not so ba–NO! I CAN'T BETRAY KATIE! IT'S JUST THE FEVER MAKING THOSE THOUGHTS! YOU DON'T LIKE THESE GIRLS, YOU LIKE KATIE! And maybe Isabel–NO! JUST KATIE!_'

Blizzaria screeched in outrage out how the sisters were cuddling the human close, quickly she jumped onto the bed too, "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

"HE'S MY CAPTAIN!" Sailornyan shouted, jumping back into the conflict.

"AH! HELP ME!" Nate cried out, his face turning even redder (if that were possible) as it was collectively smothered by Insomni, Sandi and Blizzaria. He wasn't as bothered by Sailornyan clinging onto his chest.

"Well, Nate certainly doesn't seem very comfortable…" Whisper commented, shaking his head, before he glanced down at the floor, where the only male contestant sat, "And… what are you doing, Komasan?"

"I'm preparing a wet washcloth, for Nate's forehead, should he start burnin' up a bit too much," Komasan cheerfully answered, holding up a washcloth, out of a wooden basin of water he had somehow gotten into the room.

"Well… that's thoughtful, but it doesn't really help at the moment," Whisper muttered, scratching his head, wondering if Komasan deserved a point or not. The ghostly butler glanced back at the bed, where the situation had not improved, '_Well… none of them are getting a point for this round, that's for sure…_'

"WHISPER, HELP ME ALREADY!"

**Nate's Nurse Competition: Round 2!**

"For this round, you will be proving that you know what kind of food to provide for your sick patient!" Whisper announced.

The four female yo-kai (whom Whisper had somehow convinced to get off Nate) all looked determined. Komasan just smiled kindly.

"But Whisper, I had lunch not too long ago, _I'm not hungry_…" Nate pointed out in a bland tone.

Whisper, of course, ignored Nate, "Now then, what meals did you three lovely ladies, as well as cat and dog, prepare for our hungry patient!?"

"Hey!" Sailornyan hissed in an insulted tone.

"I'm not hungry!" Nate repeated.

The five contestants were lined up along a long table, that had somehow gotten placed in the room, each with a covered serving platter in front of them.

"I know _my_ Nate, and I know what I made will definitely please him!" Blizzaria smirked confidently.

"We'll see about that," Insomni commented with a mysterious smile.

"Yes, we shall…" Sandi chuckled with faux innocence.

"'I've been by my captain's side for almost two days, I think I knyow just what he would like!" Sailornyan announced firmly, subtly glaring Whisper's way.

"I don't know if I did well, but I made the best thing I could think of for a sick boy!" Komasan stated cheerfully.

Whisper's smile widened, before floating over to Blizzaria, "Well, let's see what our fair Blizzaria has prepared than, shall we?" the butler lifted the lid off the plate, revealing bowl of porridge. "Oh, this looks promising!"

"Porridge is an excellent, easy meal for a poor, sick boy," Blizzaria's smile widened with pride.

"Hmm…" Whisper stuck a finger in the bowl, before he shivered and pulled it back, "Though, you would expect porridge to be warm, not ice cold…"

Blizzaria didn't seem deterred, "That's what makes mine special!"

"Right…" Whisper looked unsure, before he moved over to the next one. "So, Insomni, what do you have for us?" he questioned, picking the lid of up from the purple yo-kai's plate.

"Oh, it's quite the treat," Insomni smiled.

Whisper stared at what was on the plate, "Is this… a cup of _coffee_?"

"Only the finest roast," Insomni giggled with pride. "It's nice and warm, perfect for a sick boy, don't you think?"

"I'm… not sure if caffeine is the best thing for someone that needs to rest," the yo-kai butler muttered a bit quietly, before shaking his head and moving to the next. "And now, let us see what the lovely Sandi has prepared for us!"

Sandi laughed, putting one of her hands on her cheek, "Oh, you're too kind."

Whisper smiled again, before picking up the lid, "And what we have here appears to be… a mug of milk?"

"Warm milk," Sandi nodded her head cheerfully, "It's perfect for a sick person, needing rest, wouldn't you say?"

"While it's definitely a better choice than coffee…"

"Hey!" Insomni huffed in protest towards the butler's words.

"It's still not much of a meal, though I suppose it would be useful for helping him get to sleep…?" Whisper looked unsure.

"Thank you!" Sandi cheered, apparently not processing the negatives the white ghost had brought up.

Whisper shook his head as he floated over to the next plate, "And, what do you have Sailornyan?"

"I made chocobar-tunya casserole!" the pink nekomata announced smugly, revealing the… interesting concoction. "That's the best thing for my sick captain, I knyow it!"

Whisper stared at Sailornyan's dish for only a brief moment, "… Moving on!"

"What!?" the pink nekomata cried with outrage.

Whisper ignored Sailornyan's protests, floating over to the last contestant, before he sighed, "Alright, what do you have Komasan?"

"Here, check it out!" Komasan smiled, removing the lid from his dish.

Whisper immediately reeled back from the scent, "Good heavens! What is that smell!?"

"That's the smell of mama's kimchi!" Komasan cheered obliviously. "She always said it was the best thing for a sick boy!"

"Oh dear…" Whisper shook his head, gagging a bit, "It smells horrible!"

"But it tastes amazing!" Komasan insisted. "And, it'll make you feel right as rain!"

"Uh, I'll take your word for it…" Whisper sighed, before he looked towards Nate, "Well, I can't make heads or tails of _any_ of these entries, so I guess it's up to our patient to determine which he likes best."

"Wait, what!?" Nate yelped, his eyes widening as each contestant picked up their dish and started heading towards him. "No! I'm not hungry! NO!"

**Nate's Nurse Competition: Round 3!**

"For the last round, we have something that's very important for any nurse to be proficient at, I'm sure," Whisper chuckled confidently. "Giving their patient a nice, soothing, sponge– "

"_NO_!" Nate shouted in protest, struggling against the girls as they collectively tugged at his shirt.

Komasan watched with a curious expression.

**Nate's Nurse Competition: Round 3! (For real this time!)**

"Er, so that wasn't the best idea," Whisper coughed a bit, ignoring the _death glare_ the human was sending him. "So, for the real final round, we have something… simple; giving the patient a comforting pat on the head–NO WAIT!" Whisper cried too late as Blizzara, Insomni, Sandi and Sailornyan all jumped onto Nate's bed.

"OW! STOP!" Nate cried out under the loud arguing voices of the female, as they each tried to pull his head toward them…

"I don't think that's how ya' head-pat," Komasan muttered innocently as he watched from the floor.

Whisper facepalmed.

**Nate's Nurse Competition: The Results!**

Whisper floated in the center of the room, his eyes closed and arms behind his back, "And, the winner is…"

The five contestants watched in intense silence….

Nate just let out a grunt, happy that his suffering was _probably_ over…

Whisper took a deep breath, "Komasan."

The girls immediately became enraged, "WHAT!?"

"Golly, I actually won?" Komasan smiled.

"You mostly won by default, Komasan," Whisper shook his head with a groan, "Frankly, you're _all terrible_!"

"I can't believe I won!" Komasan cheered, completely ignoring Whisper as he ran out the door, "I can't wait ta tell Komajiro 'bout this! He'll be so proud!"

"Wait, you need to be Nate's…" Whisper trailed off as Komasan had already run off. "Oh… well, I suppose we're right back to where we started…" the yo-kai butler turned back around and flinched when he saw the intensity with which the four girls were glaring at each other.

Nate internally whimpered, '_Okay, now I really, really, REALLY, have a bad feeling…_'

* * *

The bell rang, signaling the end of class, and for all students to start heading home.

"Well, I'm off now, going home, _to Nate_!" Toiletta announced smugly to the rest of the class as she started to head out the door… only to get trampled by a stampede of girls rushing out the door. "AH!" lifting her head up from the ground, the yo-kai blinked, "Oh… I guess they're going there too…" she clenched her teeth slightly. "Well, they won't beat me there…"

Gathering up her things, Katie let out a small sigh at how all the other girls had just rushed out with clear intent to go see Nate, she wanted to visit him too, along with Eddie and Bear, but the way the other girls were acting still bothered her. Looking over, the ponytailed girl blinked when she spotted Toiletta… floating off the ground and flying through the window!

Katie rubbed her wide eyes, shaking her head, "Did… did anyone else see that!?" she glanced at the remainder of the class.

"The girls all ran off to see Nate, _of course_…" Andy scoffed.

"Yeah, that figures," Kenny grunted. "Nate's been taking the spotlight so much lately, even when he's not here it's still focused on him!"

Katie just gave a look of disbelief as she looked around the class, "Did everyone else really not see that!?"

* * *

"He's MINE!" Blizzaria shouted, yanking on Nate's left arm.

"He's MINE!" Insomni shouted back, pulling on the other arm.

"You both should let me have him! I haven't known him as long!" Sandi insisted, pulling at Nate's head.

"Leave my captain alone!" Sailornyan protested, hanging on Nate's waist.

"AH!" Nate shouted in pain at everywhere he was being yanked and pulled.

"And we are still at a complete stalemate, ladies and gentlemen!" Whisper commented enthusiastically as he watched the struggle. "Oh wait, looks like Blizzaria's going to pull off a tricky move, yes there it is!"

Blzzaria roared as she pulled the human boy onto the air, spinning him around and knocking the other girls away.

"WAH!?" Nate screamed with fear.

"She has successfully knocked her opponents away with a tricky 'boy-spin' move! Oh, that was not expected!" Whisper cheered with amazement.

"Sister, this is not going well," Insomni grunted as she and Sandi landed on the ground next to each other.

"Shall we join forces, for the time being?" the sleep-inducing yo-kai questioned.

"Yes, let's," the insomnia-inducing yo-kai smiled, before they joined hands.

"Oh my, what is this!?" Whisper's eyes widened, "It looks like the lovely twins, Insomni and Sandi, have formed an alliance! Can Blizzaria keep her hold on the prize with those two forming a double-team!?"

"GET THE TUNDRA AWAY FROM ME YOU ONE-EYED FREAKS!" Blizzaria shouted, holding Nate close to her, but she was unable to hold off against Insomni and Sandi as they charged her from two sides.

"Captain…" Sailornyan groaned from the ground, before pulling herself up, shaking her head. "I'm coming Captain!" she jumped onto all fours, rushing back into the conflict.

"And the under-cat of the bunch, Sailornyan, isn't out yet!" Whisper chuckled, "Truly, in the world of extreme-boy-tug-a-war, this has to be one of the most intense matches in history!"

"What the Infinite Inferno is going on here!?" Toiletta suddenly shouted with outrage as she came flying through the window.

All occupants of the room froze and turned to stare at the newcomer, the girls dropping Nate in the process.

"Ow…" the human boy whined weakly as he hit the floor.

"Nate!" Toiletta's expression turned to worry, floating over to the boy's side, "Are you okay?"

"Can't feel… anything…" Nate whimpered, looking up at the humanoid yo-kai with tears in his eyes.

Toiletta patted him on the head gently, before turning to glare fiercely at the other girls, whom all managed to look ashamed.

"And a new challenger has unexpectedly entered the arena! This is truly– "Whisper's commentary was shut down by Toiletta turning an evil look his way. "Er, never mind than!" the yo-kai butler quickly fled from the room.

Toiletta growled, gently picking Nate up and bringing him back to bed, putting him under the covers, before glaring at the four girls again. "Sailornyan aside, what are you three doing here!?"

Blizzaria crossed her arms, giving an annoyed huff, "Well, I was here to nurse _my _Nate back to health, when these two crashed in and decided to make him their squeeze toy!"

"Hey, that's not what happened!" Insomni shouted in protest.

"Yeah, we just wanted to help him get better!" Sandi insisted. "Especially since we'll probably be moving into the apartment soon, and we wanted to preemptively thank his assured approval!"

"Like that would happen!" Blizzaria snapped.

"They all kept bugging the Captain!" Sailornyan waved her paws around in outrage.

"STOP!" Toiletta snarled, before turning her focus to Sandi, "What apartment? What do you mean by that…?"

Insomni and Sandi paused, sharing a curious look.

"I'm sorry, do you not live in the apartment yourself?" Insomni questioned.

"I live here, in the guest room down the hall, what's this apartment thing!?" Toiletta asked, clear frustration in her tone.

Blizzaria let out a knowing chuckle, "Oh right, that's why you went through all that nonsense of faking a human identity and had to go to school! You didn't know about the apartment, did you?" seeing the annoyed look on the bathroom spirit's face, the yuki-onna gave another chuckle, "Didn't you wonder where Sailornyan even came from? Or why I was hanging around here? I live here now! Well, under here, in the apartment Hidabat made in an extra-dimensional space under this house!"

Toiletta's eyes widened at that revelation, "WHAT!?"

"And we'll be moving in there soon, as well," Insomni and Sandi shared a giggle, which had Blizzaria glaring at them…

"_WHAT_!?" Toiletta was shaking in rage.

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened, halting the possibility of conflict as Lily Adams stepped into the room. Toiletta quickly forced back her frustration, dropping down onto her feet in order to continue her illusion of humanity.

"Nate is everything–Oh! Hanako?" the mother looked surprised to see the 'exchange student.'

"Um, Nate had a nightmare, so I came to check on him," Toiletta tried to explain, shuffling her feet a bit as she looked at the ground.

Nate let out a few sniffles and moan, turning over in bed.

The mother looked at her son with concern, before turning her gaze to the young girl, "But, how did you get here?"

"I… came in through the front door, it wasn't locked," the black-haired girl explained in an awkward tone, keeping her eyes looking anywhere but at the adult. "I heard Nate's screams, and came rushing up here."

Lily sighed but seemed convinced. Shaking her head, the mother approached the bathroom-dwelling ghost, and took hold of her hand, "You're a sweet girl, Hana, I know you like my Nate a lot. But the best thing to do for him right now would be to let him rest."

"I know, but…" Toiletta's voice trailed off, her eyes glancing back at the other female yo-kai, whom went unseen by the human woman.

"If you really want to help Nate feel better, you can come help me prepare dinner," Lily gave a kind smile as she lightly brushed the girls hair, turning her face to look at her, "According to my husband, you have quite a knack for it."

Toiletta let out a sigh, reluctantly nodding, "Alright…" allowing Lily to lead her out the door, she glanced back at the other girls, feeling internal rage at how Blizzaria, Insomni and Sandi waved at her with mocking grins…

* * *

"For dinner I think we should have something light, so as not to upset Nate's stomach too much," Lily explained to Hanako as she followed her down the stairs, "So– " the words of explanation were cut off by frantic knocking on the front door as the duo reached the bottom of the stairs. "Huh, who could that be…?"

'_Darn, thought I would have a bit more time before they started arriving…_' Toiletta thought with a slight growl.

Lily Adams went to open the door, before she was greeted with the winded forms of Alex, and a blue-haired, ponytailed girl. "Oh, hello Alex, and um…?"

"Lily! Lily Minami of Class 5-1, ma'am," the blue-haired girl answered quickly, giving a bright smile. "I heard your name is Lily too, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," the mother answered, looking between the two girls curiously.

Lily Minami chuckled, "Cool! So, I guess if I marry Nate, I'll be the _second_ Lily Adams in the family!"

"Yeah, as if he'd ever marry a girl with the same name as his mother," Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Lily Adams just gave an awkward chuckle, "Um, would you two like to come in?"

"YES!" the two girls suddenly shouted with excitement. "I NEED TO MAKE SURE MY NATE GETS BETTER!" after that unified exclamation, the two athletic girls glared at each other.

"NATEY-KINS! NO NEED TO FEAR, YOUR MEG IS HERE TO HELP YOU FEEL BETTER!" Megan Jones shouted as she came rushing up to the door.

"NO, HE'S MINE!" Maya shouted as she followed after her.

Nate's mother had to move aside as she allowed the flood of girls into her house, "Um, everyone calm down please, Nate still needs his rest…"

Toiletta watched as Lily helplessly tried to keep the swarm of lovesick girls calm and from rushing to the room of her actually-sick son, letting out a scoff as she drifted to the kitchen to get dinner started…

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, I saw Hanako _fly_ right through the _closed _window!" Katie exclaimed to her two male friends, as the three were headed to Nate's house to see how he was doing.

"Oh, come on Katie, she flew _and_ could go through solid glass? Are you saying she's a _ghost_ or something?" Bear scoffed, "That girl's creepy, sure, but that's crazy!"

"I'm not saying she's a ghost or anything, I don't know what she is, but I'm just saying what I saw!" the brunette girl insisted firmly. "There's something _off_ about that girl, I'm telling you!"

"I don't know Katie, I mean, I got some weird vibes from Hanako too, but that doesn't really make any sense…" Eddie sighed, looking a bit thoughtful. "Like, maybe you were seeing things, or– "

"Guys, I would love to talk about how Hanako is or isn't a ghost but look!" Bear suddenly interrupted, pointing towards Nate's house… and bustling crowd of girls trying to get in… "I don't think I want to wait in that line just to see Nate…"

"Oh, come on!" Eddie cried out in annoyance at the image of chaos.

"I knew they would be coming, but this is… ridiculous," Katie sighed, choosing to let go of the issue of Hanako's ability to fly and phase through solid objects for the time being.

"Geeze, I just wanted to see Nate, but I had no idea he had so many… fans," Amy said as she stared at the Adams house, concern and a hint of jealousy in her tone.

Eddie, Bear and Katie blinked, turning to look at the older girl in surprise.

"Uh, who are you…?" Eddie asked blankly.

"Oh, hello, I'm Amy," the pigtailed girl greeted kindly, "Are you three friends of Nate?"

"Uh yeah, and you're…?" Katie spoke carefully, already suspecting this girl was a part of Nate's 'harem.'

"I'm his friend too, I came to visit him and… give him an apology, from _someone_…" Amy's eyes narrowed sternly, glancing down at… nothing, as far as the other three kids could tell. "Looks like I'm gonna be waiting a bit on that…"

"Yeah, I'm not jumping into that…" Eddie muttered, shaking his head with a bit of fear as he stared at the rabid swarm of females.

* * *

"This will not do…" Blizzaria grunted, having been driven off from Nate's room by the onslaught of overly affectionate schoolgirls, dragging the still snoozing Swelterrier along with her. "Terry, wake up!" she slapped the fire dog quickly.

"Yeowch!" the dog yo-kai jumped a bit, before shaking his head a bit and chuckling nervously when he saw his 'friend's' glare. "Oh, hey Blizzaria…"

Blizzaria huffed, turning away from him as she muttered to herself, "Those human girls will be a nuisance too; I need to find a way to get them to back off from _my man_!" the yuki-onna was practically frothing at the mouth as her fists trembled, before she suddenly stopped, a thought crossing her mind. "A… direct way to deal with them, perhaps…"

Swelterrier looked a bit fearful as the yuki-onna started to release a sinister chuckle, which soon evolved into maniacal laughter.

"That Toiletta may have really been onto something with her little 'human identity' scheme…" Blizzaria spoke with a devious grin, turning her eyes directly onto her reluctant partner-in-crime. "Terry, I have a revision for our plan… a _wonderful_ revision indeed!"

* * *

And there's the next chapter! This chapter turned out a bit different than I had initially planned; originally, about half of it was going to be the conflict between the yo-kai girls, and the other half would be Nate dealing with all the schoolgirls flowing in to take try taking care of him. But the stuff between the yo-kai girls ended up running a lot longer than I thought, and pretty much took over the chapter…

I was a bit concerned the parts with Insomni and Sandi hugging Nate to their chests might have been a tad too risqué, but after considering it; I don't think so. They aren't described in any sort of inappropriate manner or detail and are treated as comedy.

Anyway, hope this was enjoyable. Leave a review if you wish to give your thoughts and/or constructive criticism, or ideas.

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' Nate returns to school, having recovered from his illness, but there is a surprise; the class is getting another transfer student!? A stunning girl who quickly charms nearly every boy in class, but it is clear she only has eyes for one of them… Why does Nate find this girl so familiar? And why is a string of misfortune striking the other girls in class right after her appearance? What does this mysterious blue-haired beauty have to hide…?

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **The Terror of Fubuki Himekawa!**


	7. The Terror of Fubuki Himekawa!

**Chapter 7: The Terror of Fubuki Himekawa!**

* * *

_Running as fast as his four-year-old body could carry him, Nate sped through the woods in a desperate attempt to escape his pursuer, keeping a firm hold on his similarly small companion's hand._

"_I think he's catching up to us!" the girl that held onto Nate's hand looked mostly human, but her light purple-pink skin, cat-ears and tail indicated otherwise._

_Though her red-yellow-hair covered her eyes, Nate could still tell his companion was looking at him with fear, he tried his best to give a confident smile as they came up to a dirt path between the trees. "Don't worry, he won't be able to catch us if we make it back to the campsite! My mama says that scary creatures won't attack you if you're in a big group, and there are lots of grownups there!"_

"_Really?" the cat-like girl looked hopeful._

_A sudden roar of rage rumbled through the trees, birds scattering into the sky._

_The girl looked fearful again, clinging to Nate's arm, as he too looked frightened._

"_Come on, we need to move," the young boy insisted, having the girl take his hand again before they started running down the path._

"_O-Okay!" she did her best to keep up the pace, but then she tripped, "Ah!"_

"_Kirene!" Nate called out with concern for his fallen companion, stopping in his tracks to help her up._

_The sounds of rage got closer, the ground starting to shake as their pursuer got closer._

"_Nate, I don't think I can run anymore!" Kirene whimpered as the boy helped her back up. "He's going to catch us; you need to go on your own!"_

"_I'm not leaving you behind!" the human boy said firmly, refusing to let his friend go as he got her back onto her feet._

_The rumbling increased, a giant form bursting from the trees, red eyes zeroing in on the two children._

"_Nate!" Kirene shouted with fear as she hugged the boy, while the towering figure slowly approached…_

* * *

"Kirene!" Nate called out as he sat up in bed, a cold sweat covering his body. The boy gave a few heavy breaths as he calmed down, "T-That dream…?" he put a hand to his forehead, looking around his room; he spotted Whisper, sleeping in mid-air by his desk, and Sailornyan happily snoozed at the foot of his bed…

The human shook his head, pulling himself out from under the covers, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Weird, I haven't had _that_ dream in years… the fever really must have messed with my head…" Rubbing his forehead, a realization suddenly struck the boy, "Wait a minute…" standing up, Nate stretched a bit, before a smile came to his face, "My fever's gone! Well, I guess I did tell Coughkoff I only needed a day," he chuckled with a shrug.

"Nya… Captain…?" Sailornyan yawned as she stretched her body out, standing up on all fours and sleepily looking towards Nate, her ears twitching. Her eyes widened and her ears stood up straight as she got a good look at him, "Captain Nyate, you're all better!" launching herself forward, the pink nekomata jumped straight into the boy's arms.

"Whoa!" Nate laughed as he caught the feline, petting her head as he cradled her in his arms, "Yup! And I bet your help had a bit to do with this quick recovery!"

"Really?" Sailornyan's smile widened as her face turned red and her eyes shimmered.

"I wouldn't think so," Whisper's voice sounded, the yo-kai butler doing a stretch and yawn as he floated over his master's shoulder, looking down at the cat yo-kai with a skeptical look. "Considering how useless you were overall, and that food you made that almost killed him!"

Sailornyan's expression fell, tears starting to form in her eyes as she sniffled.

"As I recall, _Whisper_, you weren't exactly much help either…" the human boy hissed, glaring harshly at the butler.

"_Oh_, would you look at the time, I have to um… that thing!" Whisper quickly excused himself from the room.

Nate kept glaring after his butler petting the nekomata's head to comfort her, before he turned his attention towards her with kind eyes, "Don't worry Sailornyan, it wasn't that bad, you were only trying to help."

"C-Captain…" Sailornyan sniffled, before she nuzzled his face. "I love you Captain Nyate!"

Still not fully understanding the meaning behind the cat yo-kai's words, Nate answered with what he thought was the natural response, "I love you too, Sailornyan."

Sailornyan let out a happy squeal, cuddling into the boy's chest as he continued to pet her…

The closet door subtly slid open, and a certain bat yo-kai peeked out, "Hmm…" the yo-kai quickly pulled out a smartphone and snapped a picture, before pulling back into the closet and closing it.

The human-feline duo continued to hug for a few moments, before Nate opened his eyes and tried to gently put the cat down… only she still clung to him. "Sailornyan…?"

"Nya…" the nekomata meowed dreamily as she kept holding onto the boy.

"… Sailornyan, it's time for me to go," Nate urged.

"Nya?" Sailornyan blinked, before she gained an embarrassed look, letting go and dropping down from her 'captain. "Sorry…"

"It's fine," Nate smiled, giving the cat yo-kai another pat on the head, before he turned to the door, "I just need to get down to breakfast, come on; I'll share some of mine with you!"

Sailornyan's bright expression returned, she gave a cheer as she raised a paw and winked, "Yeah! You're the best Captain!"

Nate chuckled at the feline's cheerful demeanor, before he stepped out of the room, with her following not far behind.

* * *

"Your cooking is superb, as always, Mrs. Adams," Toiletta smiled as she happily ate her omelet, sitting at the table along with Nate's parents.

"Aw, thank you Hanako, you're always so sweet," Lily smiled as she ate some of her own food.

"Yup, that's my wife for you, she's amazing at everything she does," Aaron laughed, before he stood up and picked up a fourth plate that had been placed before an empty chair. "Speaking of which, I should probably get this up to Nate. I wouldn't want him to miss out, just because he's sick!"

"Who's sick?" Nate's cheerful voice sounded as he came walking down the stairs, followed by Sailornyan, though only Toiletta noticed her. The boy took a sniff of the air, his smile widening, "Wow, that smells amazing!"

Both Nate's parents looked shocked, while Toiletta smiled widely.

"Nate, you're alright!" the bathroom-dwelling spirit exclaimed happily, getting up from her chair to run over to him, hugging onto his arm.

"Gah!?" Nate jumped back a bit, scratching his head as he looked at the ghost girl. "Er, um… yeah, glad to see you so happy… Hanako." He was careful to use her 'human name' while in the presence of his parents.

Sailornyan subtly growled.

Toiletta noticed the cat spirit's anger, simply giving her a mocking look and sticking her tongue out, before smiling at Nate again, "Of course I'm happy, you looked ready to drop dead yesterday!"

"We're very happy to see you better, Nate," the mother smiled, the shock having faded from both her and her husband, with relief in its place.

"Yeah, I suppose all those girls coming to nurse you back to health really did help!" the father chuckled.

"Yeah… all those girls…" Nate let out a forced chuckle, trying not to remember too much about the 'nurse competition' that was held between the yo-kai girls, nor the chaos that followed with his various female schoolmates that had shown up after… Nate shook his head to take his mind away from that, before he separated his arm from Toiletta, inciting a pout from her, and walked over the table to sit down and enjoy his breakfast.

"It's nice that you're feeling better, dear, but are you _sure_ you're okay to go to school…?" Lily questioned carefully, a bit of concern appearing in her otherwise happy expression. "It would be okay if you needed another day or so to rest, this is a rather quick recovery after all…"

"Nah mom, I'm fine," Nate assured, swallowing a bite of his breakfast. I don't want to miss too much school after all, and it's been a while since I talked to Eddie, Bear or Katie…"

"Oh right, none of them showed up yesterday," Aaron commented thoughtfully.

"Probably because of the wall of girls whom likely blocked their path," Toiletta shrugged, sitting back at her place to continue eating.

An awkward silence hung over the table after that comment, before the family decided to ignore it, continuing to eat, with Nate occasionally sneaking a bite or two to Sailornyan.

* * *

Nate smiled a bit as the sun shined overhead, walking up the path to Springdale Elementary.

"You know, if you needed a break that badly, there were probably ways you could have done so without making yourself so sick," Toiletta gave a teasing grin as she walked beside the boy.

Nate's smile faded, giving way to an embarrassed frown, "I mean… you're not _wrong_, but I wasn't exactly in my best of mindsets at the time, I was tired and panicking…"

"Be that as it may, your choice was still rather brash," Whisper spoke up as he floated up from behind the duo, crossing his arms. "Really, there were numerous ways you could have dealt with your issues that didn't involve worrying your friends and family so!"

"I _still_ haven't forgotten how _you_ handled it, Whisper," Nate glowered at the butler ghost.

"Oh yes, that whole 'announcer' thing… that didn't seem _particularly_ helpful…" Toiletta sent an unsettling glare the other yo-kai's way.

"I think I'll just shut up now…" Whisper gave a nervous smile as he started slowing down, to fall a bit behind the duo.

The humanoid spirit rolled her eyes at the more 'ghost-like' one's retreat. She leaned over and whispered into the human's ear, "I don't see why you haven't kicked that sorry excuse of a butler out yet, Nate."

Nate sighed, whispering back to the girl, "Come on, he's not as bad as he seems, he can be very helpful, when he's not trying to act like a know-it-all…" he glanced back to make sure Whisper hadn't heard, luckily, the yo-kai butler seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at the two, whistling along the way. "Plus, if it weren't for that 'sorry excuse of a butler,' I would never have met you."

Toiletta frowned at that idea, "I suppose he has _some_ good points…"

Nate nodded back to her, before he caught a flash of blue flying overhead. The boy quickly looked up, but there was nothing… "Huh?"

"Nate?" the yo-kai girl looked to her crush questioningly, looking up at the sky as well. "What are you looking at…?"

"I just thought I saw…" the yo-kai watch user shook his head. "Forget it, it's nothing."

"Are you sure you've completely recovered," Toiletta moved closer to the human, examining his face carefully. "Coughkoff did give you a_ pretty_ nasty fever…"

Nate felt himself sweating a bit from how close Toiletta's face got to his, "I'm f-fine, it was nothing." He shook his head, taking a few steps back to regain his bearings. "Don't worry, Toiletta, I'm fine…"

A brief look of disappointment crossed the ghost girl's face, before she glanced back down the path they came, and let out a cough, "Alright, I believe you. But careful with how you refer to me, I think one of your classmates is– "

"NATEY-KINS!"

Nate barely had any time to react before he was pounced upon by the girl whom was, arguably, his most affectionate admirer, "Meg!?"

"That's right!" Megan Jones giggled as she nuzzled her cheek against the boy's shoulder while she hugged his arm tightly. "I'm so glad to see my Natey-kins all better and walking around! All my loving care must have sped up your recovery!"

Nate's face turned red, trying not to look at Meg's cute smiling face as she continued to hold onto him while walking to school, "Er, I'm sure you were of… help…"

"Oh, it's so adorable how shy you are, Natey-kins!" the pigtailed girl giggled at how the boy refused to look at her, internally pleased as she noticed how his cheeks tinted red. Meg's feelings of happiness were, however, cut off as she suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine.

"It's not polite to just grab onto somebody like that, without first asking permission…"

Meg slowly glanced over to the source of the unsettling voice, giving a tiny gulp of fear when she saw 'Hanako,' staring at her with wide blank eyes, an aura of malice seeming to emit from her very body… "I, um, I…" she quickly released the boy's arm.

"Meg?" Nate looked at the girl, a bit relieved that she wasn't clinging to him anymore but concerned with how she seemed to be trembling with fear. The boy glanced over at the visible yo-kai.

Toiletta's expression had immediately reverted to a pleasant grin, the malice she had been emitting moments before completely gone.

"Hmm…" suspiciously, Nate shined the yo-kai watch's light around Meg's body, which she didn't seem to take note of, but he found no sign of any hidden yo-kai. "Meg, are you okay…?"

"Fine! I'm fine!" Meg quickly assured, her eyes occasionally darting to look at Toiletta, "I, uh, just thought maybe Hanako was right, and I should… ask permission before I cling to you, and all…"

Nate blinked unsurely, before shrugging, continuing on his path to school.

* * *

"Nate, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" the ponytailed girl greeted the boy cheerfully.

"H-Hi, Katie…" Nate smiled dreamily as he waved to his crush, ignoring pretty much everything and everyone else in the classroom.

"We're here too, you know," Eddie grinned as he stepped over to the dazed boy.

Nate quickly shook himself out of his Katie-induced-fantasy, turning to his headphone-wearing friend and nodding apologetically, "Yeah, sorry about never showing up to the arcade, there was an… incident."

"An incident involving an _older_ girl," Bear grinned maliciously as he placed a hand on Nate's shoulder.

Nate's expression turned blank, sweat starting to form, "Er… what are you talking about…?" he glanced around carefully, relieved that it didn't seem any of the other girls had heard that comment…

"We met Amy," Katie clarified, giving a slight scolding look to Bear, before smiling to Nate again. "We tried to visit you when you were sick, but…"

"Yeah, we couldn't get passed all the girls," Eddie coughed, before smiling again, "And we met that girl Amy, who told us about what happened that day."

Nate's pupils shrank a bit, "And… what exactly did she… _tell_ you?"

"That she crashed into you with her bike and had to take care of you until your parents came to take you to the doctor," Eddie stated, giving Nate a strange look. "Are you saying… something else happened?"

Nate quickly turned away, "Er, nope, that was it! She crashed into me and helped me out, now we're friends, hahaha…" he started sweating a bit as his arms darted around.

Eddie, Bear, and Katie kept staring at their friend suspiciously, however the teacher showing up halted any further conversation, having them all move to take their seats.

"Before we begin, I'm sure some of you have noticed that we have a few extra seats in class now," the teacher referenced.

Many of the students blinked, looking around in recognition.

"Huh, actually hadn't noticed that," Lucas muttered from his seat, as both ends of the class now had a new line four desks each, upping the total number of desks in class to 32.

Mr. Johnson gave an awkward chuckle, "It is a bit strange, such a sudden development, especially since our principal only got word of it this morning…" he shook his head, "Well, it doesn't matter, but what is important is what this change means, as we'll be getting another transfer student!"

Toiletta narrowed her eyes from her seat in the back of the class, '_This is suspicious…_'

"_Another _transfer student…?" Bear questioned blankly.

"Not another girl after _my_ Nate, I hope," Lulu hissed from next to him.

Bear's eye slightly twitched.

"Another transfer student?" Katie questioned, subtly glancing over at 'Hanako,' whom luckily wasn't looking back at her. '_Is this a coincidence…?_'

"I hope it's another interesting person," Zoey grinned.

Lina nodded to her friend with a grin of her own.

Lucas didn't give any comment from his seat in-between the two spooky girls…

'_Please don't be a girl! Please don't be a girl!_' Nate silently pleaded, clutching his desk with his eyes firmly shut.

"Alright, settle down kids!" the teacher tried to calm the class, before he turned to the door with a smile, "You may come in now."

Light footsteps were heard, before the new student daintily walked into the class.

Nearly every boy in class went silent with looks of awe as they just stared at the figure that had entered the classroom. The only ones not to do so were Eddie (whom just looked curious), Nate (whom still had his eyes closed), and Lucas (whom… didn't really give any reaction.)

Most of the girls' eyes narrowed, a few growling as they glared at the newcomer to the class. Shelly didn't look, focusing on her desk nervously, and Katie gave a friendly smile, even if she seemed a bit unsure. 'Hanako's' look of suspicion remained, a scowl forming as she kept her eyes on the new student.

The teacher smiled as the girl stepped before his desk, before he gestured a hand to her, "Everyone, please give a warm welcome to Fubuki Himekawa!"

Fubuki carefully brushed a lock of short blue-hair out of the way of her eye, giving a shy smile as she bowed to the class, "Hello, everyone, please take care of me…"

There was continued silence in the class as everyone kept staring at the new girl.

"She… she's _beautiful_…" Mark was the first to speak, a slightly dazed look on his face.

"Yeah… shouldn't someone like that be going to some kind of private school?" Andy questioned with wide eyes. "Or, like, training to be an _idol_ or something?"

'_Forget Lulu, Nate can have her!_' Bear thought as he stared at Fubuki with large hearts in his eyes.

Hearing all the commotion, Nate gulped, '_Oh no, it is a girl…_' carefully, the brunette boy opened his eyes, and got a good look at Fubuki Himekawa, just as she turned to look at him with her icy-blue eyes. Nate's own eyes widened a bit as he stared back at her, '_Wait… have I seen her before…?_' he couldn't quite place it, but this girl looked _familiar_…

"Well, Fubuki, I suppose you can have your pick of the empty seats," Mr. Johnson offered kindly.

"Thank you very much, sir," Fubuki bowed, brushing her white skirt a bit before she started looking around the class.

"Fubuki! Sit by me!" Bear called out, gesturing to the new empty seat at his side.

Lulu glared at the lovestruck boy with a huff.

"No, sit by me!" Mark called out, waving a hand high.

"Hmm… yes, she probably should sit by us," 'Hanako' commented skeptically, reminding Mark.

'_Gah, forgot about her!_' Mark thought, looking towards the previous transfer student with a shudder, '_Sitting between her and that angel Fubuki… that would be like being somehow stuck right between a pleasant sunny day, and a raging storm!_'

Toiletta noticed how Mark was looking at her, she glared at him, "I don't know _what_, but I'm sure you just thought something rude about me."

Mark shuddered, turning away from the creepy girl with a gulp.

Fubuki didn't give any notice to all the comments, walking through the class with an air of elegancy to her every step, giving a soft smile as she looked across the class with half-closed eyes, which made nearly every boy's heart skip a beat. "It really is _charming_ to meet you all, I was home schooled for the past few years of my life and am a little nervous to be around so many people, but I do ever so hope that you will all be my friends and help me out," she fluttered her eyelids a bit, clasping her hands up to her cheek.

"She's so cute! I can hardly stand it!" Bear shouted, shoving his red face onto his desk, both Nate and Eddie looked at their friend with shared concern. "Fubuki! Over here!"

Katie covered her face with embarrassment over her friend's actions.

The blue-haired girl gave a small hum as she glanced towards Bear, before passing him over, walking passed his seat and walking back up to the front of the class and stopping in front of Nate's desk.

Nate looked up, gulping a bit as Fubuki looked down at him with sparkling eyes and a dazzling smile, he could_ feel_ the glares of nearly every other student in class _burning_ into the back of his head. Deciding to ignore the obvious warnings of danger, the boy decided he should at least be friendly. "Er, hello Fubuki, I'm Nate, it's nice to meet you…"

"Yes, and it's wonderful to _meet_ you as well, Nate," Fubuki's smile widened, seemingly pleased by something, before she moved to the new seat on Nate's side opposite of Shelly and sitting down, causing the boy to let out a whimper when she leaned her head on his shoulder, "I can already tell we're going to be _great friends_…"

"OH, COME ON!" every other boy in class, aside from Eddie and Lucas, shouted in outrage.

"GET YOUR PAWS OFF MY NATEY-KINS YOU–WHA!?" Meg had started screaming as she got up from her seat, but she didn't get very far as she slipped, banging her head on her desk as she fell to the ground. "Ow…"

"Meg!" Nate called out in worry.

"Oh dear," Fubuki put her hands to her mouth with wide eyes at the sudden injury.

As the students gathered around the fallen girl, the teacher came over with a concerned expression, "Megan, can you stand?"

"Oww…" Meg's head was bleeding slightly, she pulled herself back up, a few sniffles escaping her as tears formed in her eyes. "Y-Yeah, but… that hurt!" more tears started to flow from her eyes, before she got to her feet, her eyes focused on her object of affection, "Natey-kins, hug me–AH!" she slipped again before she could make her way to him, falling back to the ground. "WAAH!" a waterfall of tears started pouring from the pigtailed girl's eyes.

"Katie, could you help Megan to the nurse's office?" Mr. Johnson asked with worry.

"I'm on it, sir!" Katie nodded, helping the crying girl back to her feet, leading her out of the class.

"I want Nate to take me!" Meg cried out, looking back to the class.

"You can see him later, please come on Meg," Katie insisted as she led the injured girl out of the classroom.

"Nate! I want Nate!" Meg wailed as she was taken out of the class.

"Meg…" Nate frowned as he watched the girl leave, feeling both sympathy for her injuries, and a bit frightened at how desperate she seemed for his attention…

"Oh, I hope she'll be okay," Fubuki muttered worriedly. "That looked like a nasty fall…"

Toiletta moved over to the spot by Meg's desk, floating just an unnoticeable bit above the ground, looking down at the floor, she caught the signs of quickly evaporating water, unlike the puddles of tears that were near. "Hmm…"

"Alright, everyone, Megan will be fine, back to your seats," Mr. Johnson moved to calm the class down.

The students all did as their teacher requested and returned to their seats.

When Nate got back to his seat, he noticed his pencil was gone, probably lost in the frantic scramble. Glancing over to the shy girl at his side, Nate gave a kind smile, "Hey, Shelly, can I borrow a pencil…?"

Shelly jumped a bit at Nate's voice, before she looked at him and smiled with a faint blush, "S-Sure, Nate…" picking up a pencil, the glasses-wearing girl was about to hand it over to the boy, when she suddenly a rush of cold air up her spine, having her gasp and drop the pencil onto the ground, "Oops!" going to the ground, Shelly frantically looked around for the pencil.

"I'll help," Nate started to get up, when a pencil was suddenly dropped onto his desk. With a blink, Nate looked over at Fubuki, whom gave him an affectionate smile.

"Don't worry Shelly, I've got him covered," the blue-haired girl gave a winning smile towards the shy girl, whom got back up to her seat, pencil in hand, and a dejected look on her face.

"Er, thanks, Fubuki," Nate gave an unsure smile to the new girl, before he turned to the girl at his other side. "Don't worry about it, Shelly, it was just a pencil," he gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Shelly's smile returned, her body shaking a bit and her face turning red at the physical contact from her crush, "O-Okay, Nate…"

Neither noticed as Fubuki's friendly smiled turned strained, her eyes turning to an icy glare, directed at Shelly…

* * *

The lunch bell had sounded, and the majority of students had now gathered in the cafeteria.

Almost every boy was now crowded around the table that the new girl, Fubuki Himekawa, had decided to sit at.

"Here, Fubuki, I brought you some extra milk, if you wanted," Casey offered nervously, handing over his carton of milk to the charming girl.

"Oh, thanks, that was sweet of you," Fubuki giggled, having all the boys around her swooning over 'how cute her laugh was.' Fubuki turned to the grilled cheese sandwich on her plate, "I'm not used to this sort of food, my mom would usually make lunches for me, when I was home-schooled," taking a small bite from the sandwich, a look of satisfaction formed on the girl's face as she chewed over so slowly, her mouth firmly shut, before she swallowed. "Not as good as my mom's cooking, but pretty tasty."

"She's even cute when she eats!" Andy exclaimed dreamily.

"She's like some perfect angel!" Kenny gushed.

"Oh, boys, you're all too kind," Fubuki smiled innocently as she basked in the attention.

A few tables over, a small gathering of girls, consisting of Maya, Lulu, Natalie, Alex, Sarah, and Chelsea, glared in the boys' direction.

"Typical _boys_ so easily won over by something, or someone, new and shiny," Maya scoffed with crossed arms.

"Yeah, it's like all she'd have to do is smile at one of them for them to bend over backwards for her," Lulu grunted with displeasure.

"Oh, I seem to have forgotten to get a napkin," Fubuki noted, before smiling at the adoring crowd. "Could one of you– "

"I'LL GET YOU ONE!" Kenny quickly shouted, quickly running to get a napkin.

"Hey, no fair! I was going to do that!" Casey called out.

"No way, I was!" Andy growled.

The girls gave a collective scoff at the behavior.

"Luckily there's at least one boy that isn't so easily manipulated," Natalie praised as she and the other girls in the group looked toward Nate, whom was sitting at the table they were crowded around, alongside Eddie, Bear, and Katie.

"Yeah, you're the best Nate!" Alex smiled widely, patting the boy on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, Bear and I aren't exactly running over to her either," Eddie pointed out with a slightly annoyed look, before glancing towards his larger friend, only to see him staring at the new student with a lovestruck expression. "Oh, come on Bear!"

Bear blinked, before he glanced towards his intelligent friend with a dazed look, "Huh, you say something…?"

Eddie groaned loudly, resting his head onto the table.

"Lucas isn't staring at her either," Katie pointed out, looking over at a table where said boy sat by his lonesome.

The girls around them ignored those points, continuing to praise Nate.

The yo-kai watch using boy tried to tune out all the praise from the surroundings girls, eating his grilled cheese contently, he did spare a glance towards Fubuki's table… and almost immediately turned away, as he saw her staring straight at him…

Looking around for a moment, Nate noticed someone… missing, "Hey, where's Shelly?"

The girls frowned, exchanging a few worried looks.

"Shelly had to go to the nurse's office," Chelsea answered quietly.

"What?" Eddie looked up in surprise at that comment.

"First Meg, then Shelly?" Katie questioned with a concerned look, "What happened?"

"It was _really_ weird," Sarah frowned, a thoughtful look on her face. "We were just walking down the hall, when she just suddenly started getting chills and shivering like crazy! We had to drop her off at the nurse's office before we came here."

"Chills…?" Nate questioned, scratching his head in thought. "I wonder how that happened; I hope she's not sick…" glancing around again, Nate spotted Fubuki looking at him again, making him quickly turn back to his meal, "Where have I seen her before…?"

"Perhaps you've just spotted her walking around the neighborhood," Whisper suddenly interjected, speaking up for the first time since Nate and Toiletta had scolded him earlier. "She did say she had been homeschooled up until now, so she may live nearby."

Nate didn't respond to the yo-kai butler's suggestion, not wanting to have a conversation with him when so many others were around, though internally he couldn't help but think, while Whisper's suggestion was a possibility, that it was more than that…

From the table she shared with Lina and Zoey, Toiletta kept staring at the newer transfer student, her eyes having an analytical look to them. '_Who are you, Fubuki Himekawa…?_'

"Hey, Hanako!" Zoey suddenly called out, snapping the yo-kai girl out of his staring. "What's with the look you giving Fubuki? Upset about her stealing your thunder as the new girl?" the bespectacled girl chuckled a bit at that suggestion.

Giving a huff, Toiletta shook her head as she returned her attention to her food, "No, it's nothing like that. I just… am getting an odd feeling from her."

"Hm, me too," Lina suddenly spoke up, giving a curious look the other blue-haired girl's way. "I don't know what it is, but I think I'm picking up some odd energy from her…"

This comment intrigued Toiletta, "Really…? What_ kind_ of energy?"

"Wait, there's _actually _something about her?" Zoey asked, looking surprised at this revelation.

"I don't really know," Lina shook her head with a shrug, "Just some odd sensations I've been picking up since she appeared, similar to the kind I get from you, Hanako," the gestured to the yo-kai girl. "But different… colder."

"Like me? But… colder…?" Toiletta questioned blankly, before she turned to look at Fubuki again, analyzing all her features carefully. The bathroom-dwelling spirit's eyes widened, "_Wait a minute…!_'

* * *

Nate sighed worriedly as he prepared to head home for the day, his friends waiting for him just outside, "I hope everyone's okay…" he muttered, glancing back towards the nurse's office. Even more students had gotten injured in various ways throughout the day, minor things, but they were advised to wait for their parents to pick them up instead of walking home. "Why are we having so many accidents… is it because of a yo-kai!?" at that sudden thought, Nate started shining his yo-kai watch around.

"Honestly Nate, you could find a way to blame anything on a yo-kai," Whisper scoffed as he floated up behind Nate, just as his search turned up nothing. "See! Accidents can just happen!"

"I suppose…" Nate lowered the watch, still looking unsure, "Still… Meg, Alex and Natalie all having accidents… and I wonder if those chills Shelly felt– "

"That isn't a yo-kai either, I assure you!" the butler assured firmly.

"Oh, Nathan, I'm so glad I caught you!"

The soft voice of Fubuki halted the conversation between Nate and his yo-kai companion, having them look to her in surprise.

"Fubuki… um, hi," Nate greeted carefully.

"I've been wanting to have a good talk with you, Nate, but I could never seem to get the opportunity," the blue-haired girl gave a cheerful smile.

"Oh, you have…?" Nate looked nervous as the girl got closer to him.

"That's an interesting watch you have there too," Fubuki's smile widened as she grabbed hold of the boy's arm, looking it over with interest. "Kind of looks like…"

"Um, Fubuki, I really need to go, Katie, Eddie and Bear are– "Nate started to say, looking to where his friends were waiting outside the school… only to see an angry Bear dragging away the other two. "Huh!?"

"Bear, let me go!" Katie growled dangerously.

"Sorry Nate!" Eddie called out to left-behind-friend, as Bear left the school's gate.

Nate just had a blank expression on his face as he kept staring at where his friends had been.

"Seems that you're free…" Fubuki gave a playful smile as she moved to look over Nate's shoulder.

"Er... well," Nate looked around quickly, trying to come up with some excuse to not walk with Fubuki, and end up at the receiving end of the wrath any boy's that found out would have…

"There's something special about you Nate, I can tell by looking…" Fubuki smiled mysteriously.

"Uh…" Nate started sweating, his eyes darting around for some out.

Fubuki let out a dreamy sigh, before she started walking out of the school, "Well, I need to be going, hope to see you again soon…" she giggled a bit, glancing back at the boy with a wink and blowing him a kiss, before she left the building.

"… Huh?" the yo-kai watch user blinked, having not expected Fubuki's exit as opposed to any attempt to have him 'walk her home' or something. Realizing he was in the clear, he let out a sigh of relief.

"That was rather rude," Whisper scolded, giving his human master a critical look. "You were acting like that girl was some kind of dangerous beast or something."

Nate briefly looked guilty at his butler's words, before shaking his head, "Whisper, if I left with Fubuki, I would really fear for my life…" the boy glanced to where Andy, Daniel and Mark stood in the hall, giving him stink eyes… The yo-kai watch user quickly looked away from them with a gulp. "Plus, I was just getting some… weird feelings from her…"

"Weird feelings? What does that even mean…?" Whisper questioned with a raised brow. A thought crossed the ghost's mind, and a sly smirk creeped onto his face, "Oh my, are you _finally_ starting to become interested in girls aside from Katie?"

Nate gawked, "What, No! That's not it! It was… weird…" he trailed off, looking to the ground unsurely.

"So, you too…"

Toiletta's voice seemed to come out of nowhere, causing Nate and Whisper to jump a bit at how the ghost girl seemed to have appeared right behind them.

Toiletta chuckled mischievously, before her expression suddenly turned serious, glancing out the door, "Come Nate, let us head home together… there is something I wish to discuss with you…"

Nate blinked, exchanging a confused look with Whisper. He shrugged, following Toiletta, seeing not many other options for his next option.

"Hmm…" Hailey watched her crush leaving from the corner of the locker. The purple-haired girl turned to her near friend. "You go on ahead of me Jessica, I see something I want to check out…"

"Oh, okay…" Jessica barely had time to respond, before the hyper girl had already sped out the door.

"… Did she really just leave me behind?" Usapyon questioned to Jessica bluntly.

Jessica, of course, gave no response to the question of the yo-kai she couldn't see or hear, just looking in the direction her friend had run off with concern…

* * *

"Let me just cut to the chase; It's about Fubuki Himekawa," Toiletta spoke seriously she walked on the sidewalk, alongside her human friend. "You feel like you've seen her before, don't you?"

Nate's eyes widened, "Y-Yeah, how did you know…"

"And what exactly does this have to do with anything?" Whisper asked, floating over Nate's shoulder, giving Toiletta an unimpressed look. "Surely she is just a nice girl whom Nate has seen around the neighborhood before!"

Toiletta ignored the other yo-kai's dismissal, "Simply put, I don't think she's a human; I think she's actually a yuki-onna." Seeing Nate's expression change to one of shock, she continued, "Blizzaria, to be exact."

Nate took a moment to process this, "Blizzaria…? You think Fubuki's Blizzaria!?" '_Well, she does actually look a lot like her…_' he thought to himself, recalling those blue eyes that Fubuki had stared at him with, how they looked so familiar…

"What, that is preposterous!" Whisper quickly denied, giving an annoyed look towards the female ghost. "Fubuki must be a normal human! I am a yo-kai expert, and I didn't pick up anything odd from her!"

Toiletta turned a glare towards Whisper, "Haven't you noticed all the weird things that have been happening to girls around Nate since she showed up? Megan slipping on what should have been a perfectly dry floor, Shelly's sudden attack of shivers, Alex tripping in gym, Natalie's accident in science class…?"

"Those were simply coincidences! Surely you can't expect us to believe that Fubuki was responsible for all those events!" Whisper continued to deny. "Right, Nate?"

"I don't know…" the human boy muttered thoughtfully. "That kind of would make sense…"

Toiletta gave a soft smile, "I knew you would see reason, Nate."

"Oh, come on!" Whisper fumed over being disregarded.

"But, why would Blizzaria pretend to be a student? Or hurt those girls…?" Nate questioned, though he feared he already knew the answer…

"Hey, Nate!" Hailey suddenly came running to join the group, before Toiletta could give a response. "What's going on?"

"We were just talking about what Nate's mom will make for dinner when we get home," Toilleta quickly dismissed, waving her hand for the other girl to leave.

Hailey chuckled, "Yeah, nice try Toiletta, I know you guys were talking about that new girl!" the purple-haired girl looked proud when she got a series of surprised looks in response. "By the way, why are you pretending to be a human girl anyway?"

Toiletta ignored that question, letting out a sigh as she glared at the female yo-kai watch user. "Alright, yes, we were talking about Fubuki Himekawa."

"These two believe that innocent girl is Blizzaria, obfuscating her identity, and causing harm onto others!" Whisper piped in, crossing his arms with a huff.

"It makes some sense though, you must admit Whisper," Nate tried to get his butler to see reason, but it seemed he wasn't interested.

"Blizzaira, hmm?" Hailey muttered to herself, thinking about the possibility, and the comments about her hurting others. '_Could we have a possible yo-kai yandere in the harem?_' deciding to edge on the air of skepticism for now, Hailey smiled, "Oh, I don't know; she seems like a normal girl to me, isn't there some more obvious signs when a yo-kai is disguising themselves as a human?"

"Often, but there are methods which more powerful yo-kai can use to take on nearly infallible human disguises," Toiletta spoke with a firm tone, keeping a suspicious glare on Hailey. "I believe Blizzaria could very well be powerful enough to do so."

"I don't know…" Hailey adjusted her glasses with a hum.

"Leave me alone!" Fubuki's voice suddenly shouted.

The group looked surprised, all moving around the corner, seeing Fubuki glaring at something invisible, holding a… holding up a yo-kai watch, a pendant type that hung around her neck.

"Wait, she has a yo-kai watch?" Hailey looked surprised.

"Well, this is a shock, was she hiding that under her shirt the whole time?" Whisper questioned with wide eyes, before he let out a bit of a cough, giving a smug grin. "See, she's not Blizzaria! What use would Blizzaria have for a yo-kai watch!"

Nate however, had very different thoughts from his butler, as he _recognized _that yo-kai watch… '_That's… Blizzaria's!_' Nate gawked; it was the same snowflake-designed pendant-type yo-kai watch he had seen Blizzaria make use of when he was sick.

"Who is she talking to anyway?" Hailey subtly shined her yo-kai watch's light, seeing Nate was in too shocked a state to do so. The light revealed a small, dripping yo-kai that looked like it was made of melting ice.

"Oh my, that one is, um," Whisper quickly pulled out his yo-kai pad.

"It's Slush," Toiletta grunted, knocking the wind out of the butler's sails.

**Eerie Tribe: Slush**

"Er, right, I was going to say that!" Whisper quickly put his yo-kai pad away and gave a confident grin, which convinced nobody…

Fubuki's eyes briefly glanced in the group's direction, before she smirked and turned her eyes back to the yo-kai, giving a stern look, "Stop following me around! You've been causing everyone nothing but trouble all day!"

"I'm Slush, I need to make things slushy, cold and slippery! That's what I do," Slush justified childishly, sloshing about in the air.

"You hurt my new friends! It's not nice!" Fubuki countered heatedly.

"Aha, so it was Slush making all those accidents happen," Whisper looked triumphant. "I knew it!"

"Weren't you adamant that _no_ yo-kai was involved…?" Nate muttered, still staring at Fubuki's yo-kai watch.

"If you won't leave me alone, everyone is going to start thinking I'm bad luck, _again_!" Fubuki bit back a pained look. Reaching into her sleeve, she pulled out a small coin; a yo-kai medal, "My companion, I call onto your aid!"

Nate's eyes widened as he watched, he recognized the yo-kai's picture on that medal, '_That tears it!_'

The blue-haired girl smiled, flipping the yo-kai medal, before inserting it into her watch. "Come forward, Swelterrier! Yo-kai medal, activate!" and the yo-kai watch sprung to life, it's feminine sounding mechanical voice announcing the summoning.

"**LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, INTRODUCING THE CHARMING TRIBE!"**

"Swelterrier!" the red-furred canine announced, before he landed before Fubuki, giving a knightly bow. "What do you wish of me, my lady?"

Fubuki giggled at her yo-kai friend's greeting, before her expression turned serious, pointing at the enemy. "That yo-kai has been hurting all my new classmates! Please, put a stop to him, Swelty!"

Swelterrier nodded, standing back up and glaring at the smaller yo-kai with a fiery glare.

"Gah!?" Slush reeled back fearfully in the face of a much more powerful, and fire-attribute yo-kai. "I don't want to be a puddle!" he screeched fearfully, running away, leaving a yo-kai medal behind. "SORRY!"

Fubuki and Swelterrier blinked, before the girl spoke, "Huh… that was anti-climactic…" she walked over to pick up the medal.

"Huh, so I guess that proves it, she's not Blizzaria," Hailey commented with crossed arms. "She's just a girl with a yo-kai watch, and Slush has been the one causing all the accidents…"

"That… makes sense I suppose," Toiletta spoke, though she didn't look entirely convinced.

Nate let out a heavy breath, before he stepped out from the corner, approaching Fubuki.

"Nate, what are you doing…?" Whisper questioned as he saw the boy marching over to his newest classmate.

"Fubuki," Nate spoke seriously, approaching the girl from behind.

"Oh, Nate!" she turned around with a cheerful expression.

"You know Nate as well?" Swelterrier questioned as he looked towards the girl that summoned him.

Fubuki giggled, nodding to the dog yo-kai, "Yeah, I sit next to him in my new class! He's really nice!" she smiled at Nate, approaching him. "And you have a yo-kai watch, don't you?" she took hold of his arm, looking at his watch again. "I knew it! That is a yo-kai watch, you are the same Nate Swelty told me about!"

Nate sweatdropped a bit, feeling a tad unsure of his assessment, pulling his hand away, he stood firm, giving a stern look, "Fubuki… you're Blizzaria, aren't you?"

The blue-haired girl blinked, "Blizzaria… no?" she looked towards Swelterrier questioningly. "Swelty, do I look like Blizzaria…?"

"A bit, my lady, you do remind me of her a good amount," Swelterrier answered with a nod, before turning to look at Nate a bit awkwardly. "Er, Nathan, I can understand why you might have suspicions, what with her appearance and the yo-kai watch… but Fubuki isn't Blizzaria; I give you my word as your friend!" the hot-clan yo-kai gave a bow.

Nate's skepticism seemed to wane slightly, "But, you have the same exact yo-kai watch as Blizzaria did, and you summoned Swelterrier of all yo-kai?"

Fubuki blinked, "Well, I've never actually met Blizzaria, but Swelty is the one that gave me my watch," she smiled at the dog yo-kai, "It was only a couple months ago, he put a stop to a bad luck yo-kai called Skreek, that had been following me around for years, and gave me the watch."

Swelterrier nodded, "She reminded me of Blizzaria, same as you. This poor girl had been the subject of bad luck and misfortune for a long time, to the point that she was ostracized by others her age, and her parents had to pull her out of public school and start homeschooling her…"

Fubuki drooped a bit, a bit sad at being reminded of that, before she shook it off and smiled, "It took a bit of convincing, but I managed to get my parents to put me back into school after Swelty here got rid of that nasty Skreek!"

"As for why she and Blizzaria both possess that watch, it's actually a funny story," Swelterrier chuckled a bit. "When Blizzaria ordered that watch, she accidentally put in a duplicate order, so she got two of them. She gave me one and told me to do whatever I wanted with it."

"And I love it!" Fubuki cheered, holding up the snowflake-shaped watch. "I haven't made that many yo-kai friends yet, but I'm really excited to have the opportunity to do so, as well as have more human friends again!"

"Well… I guess all that makes sense," Nate muttered, looking a bit guilty at having accused the girl now that he knew of her previous misfortune.

Fubuki smiled at the boy, pink tinting her cheeks, before she looked at her yo-kai watch, before she looked at the sky, "Oh, I need to get home!" giving a wave, she started running off, Swelterrier following her. "Bye Nate, see you later!"

"I'll be home after I have safely escorted Fubuki home, Nathan!" Swelterrier called back.

"Alright… bye," Nate waved, an unsure look on his face.

Whisper smugly looked at Toiletta as they, along with Hailey, came out from the corner. "See! I told you she wasn't Blizzaria! Now don't you feel foolish."

"Quiet you," Toiletta hissed, her suspicious look remaining. '_I suppose those explanations make sense… but it doesn't explain that weird feeling I was getting, or why the classes were suddenly expanded right before she transferred in…_'

"Well, I think she's pretty obviously not Blizzaria, that all seemed like a lot to fake if she was," Hailey smiled, doing a bit of a stretch. '_Unless of course, she's a much more devious rival than I could have initially perceived…_' Hailey internally decided she needed to write some more notes down in her 'harem files' when she got home…

"I suppose…" Nate still seemed unsure.

"Plus, Blizzaria calls Swelterrier 'Terry,' and Fubuki calls him 'Swelty,' they _can't _be the same person!" Whisper reasoned firmly.

There was collective sweatdrop at that reasoning…

* * *

Blizzaria happily hummed to herself as she dusted a few of the shelves in Nate's room, Sailornyan watched from the bed with a suspicious look.

The door opened, with the owner of the room stepping in, followed by his yo-kai butler. The boy gave a surprised look at the yuki-onna, "Blizzaria…?"

The blue-haired yo-kai girl smiled widely at the sight of her crush, dropping the duster and rushing over to hug him, "Oh, Nate! I'm so happy to see you home."

The door to the closet slightly slid open, Hidabat taking a quick photo with his phone, before it closed back up.

"Er, yeah…" Nate coughed a bit awkwardly, blushing a bit as he pulled away from the female. "What are you… doing?"

"Oh, just dusting a few of your shelves," Blizzaria answered cheerfully, giving a bow. "I just thought I should repay you a bit for how kind you are to us all, to allow us to have such a nice apartment under your home!"

Whisper seemed annoyed, "Excuse me, but as a butler, that is my job!"

Ignoring the yo-kai butler, Sailornyan jumped down from the bed and rushed over to the boy, rubbing her head against his leg, "Captain! Welcome home!"

Nate smiled down at Sailornyan, patting her head, before he turned his attention to Blizzaria again, an unsure look on his face, "Um, Blizzaria… do you know anything about a girl named Fubuki Himekawa…?"

The yuki-onna's face lit up at the mention of that name, "Oh, you mean Terry's human friend? Yes, he's mentioned her to me, though we haven't met." She chuckled a bit, "According to Terry, we look a bit alike… wait, is that her now?" she turned her focus to the window.

Nate blinked, walking over to the window, his eyes-widening at the sight of Fubuki walking down the sidewalk.

Fubuki seemed to notice Nate looking down at him, giving a cheerful wave, before she continued on her path.

"Aw, she seems like a nice girl," Blizzaria smiled as she watched her, before hovering away from the window and smiling at Nate. "I can certainly see a resemblance I suppose."

"Nate thought so too," Whisper chuckled, apparently having forgotten about his issues with Blizzaria taking his duties, just feeling happy at another confirmation that he had been right.

"Er… yeah," Nate muttered.

Blizzaria chuckled a bit, before waving, "Well, I should be getting back to my room, see you later, my sweet Nate!"

Nate gave no response to the yuki-onna's affectionate way of referring to him, before she passed through the closet door.

"Captain…?" Sailornyan looked at Nate a bit worriedly, as he stood there silently.

"I think I need to apologize to Fubuki next time I see her…" Nate gave a guilty sigh, sitting down on his bed.

"Well, I should think so, after that ridiculous accusation you shot at the poor girl," Whisper nodded, floating around the room, humming a tune of triumph.

"Yeah…" Nate sighed. '_Wait… wasn't Fubuki going the other way? Why was she passing my house just now? And wasn't Swelterrier escorting her home…?_'

* * *

Fubuki happily hummed to herself as she skipped down the sidewalk, before she stopped in her tracks as the form of Blizzaria floated in front of her, smiling.

"Excellent work, Mimikin, you did your job beautifully," the snow woman chuckled.

"Oh, thanks," Fubuki smiled, her form becoming obscured by purple mist, before it faded to reveal a manikin-like yo-kai.

**Tough Tribe: Mimikin**

"Now Nathan is completely convinced that Fubuki Himekawa is a normal, innocent, human girl," Blizzaria laughed with a slightly sinister expression. "And with a sympathetic backstory on top of that! It's all so perfect!"

Mimikin sweatdropped a bit, "Er… yeah, for record, I'm still not too sure about this…"

Blizzaria blinked, before she stiffly looked at the other yo-kai, "Oh… you aren't?"

"Uh, but I'm sure you know what you're doing!" Mimikin chuckled nervously. "Though, I wonder what's with the obsession with Nate lately…? You're like this, and my sisters have been getting a bit wacky about him lately too… and they haven't even met him!"

Blizzaria ignored Mimikin's words, giggling to herself as she fantasized about her plans going forward, and how Nate would be hers.

The manikin yo-kai let out another sigh, before walking away.

* * *

Fubuki Himekawa's name and appearance are taken from the revealed human-Blizzaria in the upcoming sixth Yo-kai Watch movie.

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' The weekend has come, and Amy suggests Jibanyan and Nate go to a Next HarMEOWny concert in order to patch things up between them. Jibanyan is reluctant to do so, but goes along with it, and he and Nate are both relieved when it seems like the members of Next HarMEOWny are immune to the dreaded 'Harem Effect,' of course, just because the members of the band don't become attached to our little 'Harem Protagonist,' doesn't mean this is going to be a smooth ride…

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **Concerts are Dangerous!**


	8. Concerts are Dangerous!

**Chapter 8: Concerts are Dangerous!**

* * *

"_Mama, is camping gonna be fun?" the four-year-old boy questioned innocently, holding onto his mother's hand as she, along with his father, and some other obscured people, walked up a trail on Mt. Wildwood._

_The boy's mother chuckled, looking down at her son affectionately, "Yes, Nate, it's going to be lots of fun. Just remember to behave and stay where mommy and daddy can see you."_

_Nate nodded understandingly, tightening his hold on his mother's hand as he looked around the area, "Alright, mama, I will!"_

_Suddenly the scene shifted, the sky had gone from morning to night, and the young boy was no longer holding his mother's hand; he was alone, surrounded by trees, with no trail in sight._

"_Mama… daddy?" the small boy whimpered, looking around the woods for any sign of his parents. "Where are you…? Where am I?" the sounds of bats fluttering by startled the boy, causing him to whimper more as tears started to form in his eyes. "M-mama, daddy!"_

_More sounds started echoing through the trees; strange, scary sounds from the perspective of the little four-year-old. Nate let out a fearful cry, turning to run. As the child ran through the woods, he suddenly found himself running straight into a similarly sized form. "AH!"_

"_WAH!?"_

_Nate held up his arms to shield himself from the potential danger… before he noticed the 'monster' was doing the same. Lowering his arms, Nate got a good look at the 'monster;' she looked like a girl around the same age as him, almost human in appearance, but there were several things off; like how she had cat-ears sticking out of her head, or a tail sprouting from her back. "W-wait, are you… scared?"_

"_Huh…?" the cat-like girl lowered her arms, her hair obscuring her eyes as she stared at the other child. "W-Wait are you… a human?" she asked, cautiously inching towards the boy._

"_Y-yeah, I am…" Nate nodded, looking over the cat-like girl with both wariness and curiosity. "But… what are you…?"_

_The girl seemed surprised at his confirmation, before answering the question, "I'm a yo-kai. Are you really a human? How can you see me?"_

"_See you? Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" Nate questioned innocently. "What's a yo-kai?"_

"_You don't know what a yo-kai is…?" the girl seemed shocked by this statement, before some sounds in the wilderness startled her, having her give a small yelp as she curled up into a ball. "I-I just want to find my family!"_

"_Are you lost too?" Nate tried to speak in a calming tone to help the girl, though his own fear showed clearly._

"_You too?" the girl questioned. "I don't know what happened, but… I got separated from my family! I'm lost, and scared, and-and-and…" the cat-like girl started to break down into sobs._

"_I just want to find my mama and daddy too…" Nate held back a sob of his own, walking over to the girl and giving her a hug._

_The yo-kai girl flinched but eased into the boy's embrace after a moment._

"_We're both lost… but maybe we could try to find our families together…?" the brown-haired boy offered, separating from the other child and giving a shaky, yet assuring smile. "And we can be friends."_

"_Friends…? You want to be friends with me?" the girl asked with a confused look._

"_Sure, why not?" Nate smiled, holding out his hand. "I'm Nate Adams, it's nice to meet you!"_

_The yo-kai girl stared at his hand cautiously, before slowly reaching out and gripping it, "I'm Kirene Bundory…" after shaking the boy's hand, Kirene released it, giving an unsure and shy look, "I've… never had a friend before."_

"_Well… I'm happy to be your first," Nate smiled as widely as he could._

_A flash of red crossed Kirene's cheeks, the girl managing a smile of her own._

_Nate took hold of Kirene's hand again, "Come on, let's go! I'm sure if we work together, we can find our way!"_

_Kirene nodded, shaking off her flustered feelings, "Y-Yeah! Let's go!"_

_And the two children, one human, one yo-kai, wandered deeper into the woods, in search of their families…_

* * *

Nate opened his eyes as the sun shined through his window, letting out a yawn and pulling himself up, confusion flashing through his eyes as he recalled his dream, '_Again…? Why? Why am I suddenly having reoccurring dreams I haven't had for years?_' after that internal question, the boy suddenly realized something about the dream he had just had, '_Wait… Kirene said she was a yo-kai! Did she… always say that when I used to dream about her? Or… did my subconscious add that in because of my current knowledge of yo-kai?_'

"Nya… Captain…?"

Sailornyan's sleepy voice snapped Nate out of his thoughts on his dreams, shaking his head in dismissal, the boy gave a soft smile as he looked over at the pink nekomata slumbering at the foot of his bed, leaning forward and giving her a little scratch behind an ear, causing her to give a few sleepy purrs in response.

The sound of the closet sliding open was heard, with a bat yo-kai peeking out, "Nate, You up yet?"

"Oh yeah, hey Hidabat," the human greeted the closet-dweller, pulling himself up from the bed and plopping onto the ground. "Good morning to you, now I need to get ready for school I suppose…"

Hidabat blinked, "School…? Nate, it's the weekend."

Nate blinked right back to the bat-like spirit, "Oh… right." The boy gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle. "Guess time kind of got away from me there for a second… you wanted me to come greet some of the new residents of the apartment, right?"

Hidabat nodded, keeping himself half-way in the closet while talking to the human, "Yes, a lot of them are moving in today, and there's a lot of excitement in seeing you, especially from the ones that you haven't met before, whom wish to give you their medals!"

Nate gave the still-sleeping Sailornyan a few more pets on the head, before he nodded to Hidabat, "Alright, that sounds fine. Just let me get dressed, and I'll be right down."

"Alright, thank you, Nate," the bat yo-kai gave a bow of appreciation, before sliding fully back into the closet, closing the door after him.

Nate did a few stretches, preparing for what was to come when he was to meet with the new residents of the apartment, '_I know Insomni and Sandi will be there, but I can't really remember a lot of the other names that I approved… I hope there aren't too many girls._'

As the boy prepared for his coming meeting, all remaining thoughts on the nature of his dreams faded away…

* * *

"Nate, sweetie!" Insomni and Sandi cheered in unison, lunging at the boy and squishing him between them in a double hug, mere moments after he had stepped out of the elevator and into the main lobby.

"Aah-um, au-AAAH!" Nate practically screamed, his face turning a deep shade of red, which worsened when the twin djinn kissed both his cheeks at once.

"We're so happy to see you again, dear," Insomni gushed as she pulled away from the boy's right.

"So, so happy! We've missed you ever so much!" Sandi cheered as she pulled away from the left, clasping her hands up to her cheek.

"W-well, um… it's nice to see you two again… too," Nate gulped, trying to force down all his flustered feelings in the face of the near-identical yo-kai girls. '_Think of Katie. Think of KATIE!_'

Both sisters giggled, fluttering their eyes at the boy as they stared at him with loving looks, "Well, now we'll be able to see each other any time!"

"Y-yes, that's… that's great," Nate's eyes darted around, avoiding contact with either of theirs. "Uh… but I need to see some of the other new residents too, so if you could…"

Both girls pouted, backing away from Nate to give him a bit more space, crossing their arms.

"Hmph, but we only just got to see you again," Insomni complained.

"Hmph, I thought you would be a bit happier to see us again," Sandi huffed.

"I am happy to see you, but you just came on a bit… intense," Nate tried to reason, still averting his eyes and trying to hide his red face.

The twin djinn blinked, eyeing the boy carefully, before mischievous smirks made their way onto both girls' faces, glancing at each other, and nodding, before looking back at the boy with faux sympathetic expressions.

"Oh, we're sorry Nate, we now realize we may have been a bit overzealous in how we greeted you," Insomni assured, moving back over to the boy and placing a gentle hand on his right shoulder.

"Yes, we were just so excited to see you, we got ahead of ourselves, please forgive us," Sandi pleaded, placing a hand on Nate's left shoulder.

"Hrm…" Nate nervously shuffled in place, his eyes briefly glancing between the two sisters, before he let out a sigh, "It's fine, just… warn me next time."

Insomni and Sandi clapped their hands in unison, giving a couple of cheers, "Yes, of course, _Darling_!"

Nate felt a few drops of sweat dripping down his brow under the overly affectionate gazes of the twin yo-kai. Letting out a cough, he started to step away, "So… I should really go see who else newly moved in, if you'll excuse me…"

"Oh, yes!" Insomni smiled as she and her sister moved away from the boy.

"Go right ahead, of course the entirety of your time shouldn't be monopolized by my lovely sister and I!" Sandi nodded, sharing a giggle with her sister as they traded mischievous looks.

"Right…" Nate stepped towards the hall slowly, keeping his eyes on both djinns for any signs of them following him, before he turned and sped out of the room.

"Aw, he's _so_ cute when he's all flustered," Insomni gushed as she and her sister watched the boy run.

"Oh, so, _so_ cute, sister!" Sandi placed a hand on her chest, releasing a dreamy sigh.

The twins shared a grin, before speaking in unison, "So, shall we follow him…? Oh! I thought you'd never ask!" the two placed hands to their mouths as they laughed, before vanishing in two puffs of purple smoke…

* * *

"Okay, let's see…" Nate looked over the list of new residents as he walked through the halls. "The closest room should be– "

"Hey there!"

"Gah!" the boy almost dropped the list, but managed to keep hold of it and turn to the person whom had startled him; whom looked to be a female, humanoid yo-kai, dressed in a red devil-looking costume, with a pair of large bat-like wings coming out of her back, and a tail tipped by a flame. "Um… are you one of the new residents…?"

"You got that right, cutie! The name's Little Charrmer, a yo-kai superhero. Charmed to meet you!" she did a twirl and wink as she greeted the boy.

**Eerie Tribe: Little Charrmer**

"Yo-kai _superhero_…?" Nate questioned curiously, glancing over the list, and seeing that there was indeed a 'Little Charrmer' listed as one of the newly moved in residents.

"That's right! I'm a hero of justice to all!" Little Charrmer cheered, "Think fast!"

Nate barely could react in time to catch the medal that came flying at him before it hit his head. Holding it up, he found it to depict a picture of Little Charrmer, the red frame and style of the medal designating her as a 'merican yo-kai.

"And I've heard all about you, Mr. Adams!" the hero spoke up again, looking towards the human with a wide smile. "I've heard how you've been able to keep any troublesome yo-kai around here under control, despite being just a normal human boy!"

"Er… that's not exactly right," Nate tried to reason, not liking the gleam in Little Charrmer's eyes…

"Don't sell yourself short kid! I've heard enough to know your more than you appear," she chuckled, wrapping an arm around the human boy's shoulder and giving a good-natured laugh. "In fact, you might just be the kind of person I'm looking for!"

"Looking… for?" Nate blinked nervously.

"Yup; to be my new sidekick!" Little Charrmer cheered loudly, thrusting a fist into the air.

Nate's eyes widened, jumping out of the yo-kai superhero's grip and staring at her like she was crazy, "Sidekick!? I can't be a superhero's sidekick! I haven't even graduated from elementary school!"

"Oh, don't worry about little details like that!" Little Charrmer waved her hand dismissively, her smile never fading. "You'll do great! I can tell you've got the makings to be a hero! I can see it in your eyes!"

"… I think you might be seeing something that isn't there," Nate took a couple steps back, never taking his eyes off Little Charrmer's form, which suddenly seemed a lot more dangerous…

"Nonsense! I know a budding hero when I see one!" the female yo-kai insisted, approaching the boy as he continued to step back. "I'm sure my team will be in agreement when you meet them!"

Nate paused, stopping in his tracks, "Team? You have a team?"

"Yup! I'm the leader of the yo-kai hero team: Tempest Pride!" Little Charrmer gave a peace sign as her smile widened. "We were based in New Yo-kai City up until recently, but a lot of activity seems to be going on here in Springdale, so we decided to shift gears and move here!"

"Activity…?" Nate questioned, internally wondering if some of the stuff he had been involved with had something to do with that. "So, is the rest of your team here too?"

The devil-like hero's expression fell a bit, shaking her head, "Nah, I thought this place looked like fun, but they're still on the fence about picking a base of operations. They're staying in some inn for the time being, until they can settle on what they want to do for permanent housing."

"Oh…" Nate wasn't sure if he should be relieved, or more afraid, that this yo-kai hero's team wasn't here to possibly either assist or restrain her.

"But don't worry, you'll see them when we go out on patrol together!" Little Charrmer exclaimed. "But first we need to make a costume for you and come up with your hero name! Hmm…"

"Actually; I _really_ need to get going…" the human quickly spoke again, backing up once more in an attempt to get away from the overeager heroine.

"Hey, there you are!" another voice interjected, before the form of a floating, female humanoid, with an oversized head, large mouth, and no visible eyes suddenly popped up from down the hall, floating over to Little Charrmer. "I've been trying to catch up to you!"

Nate was quick to recognize this yo-kai, since he already had befriended her, "Chatalie?"

**Eerie Tribe: Chatalie**

Chatalie didn't seem to have heard or noticed Nate yet, as she was primarily focused on the yo-kai superhero.

Little Charrmer turned to face the newcomer with an irritated look, "Oh, what do_ you_ want?" the red-clad hero didn't seem very thrilled to speak with the big-mouthed yo-kai.

"What's with that reaction? I just wanted to talk a bit more about ideas for my superhero name and costume!" Chatalie exclaimed with a wide grin.

Little Charrmer scoffed, "I already told you; this isn't a game! I know you're all talk, and I have no interest in entertaining you if you aren't going to take the kind of work I do seriously!"

"What? Of course, I take it seriously! In fact, I take it _more_ seriously than you!" Chatalie quickly countered.

Little Charrmer gave an annoyed sigh, turning away from the other yo-kai, "I'm not dealing with you, I have someone with a _genuine_ chance of being a superhero to talk to!"

Nate realized a bit too late that he probably should have taken the opportunity to leave when the yo-kai hero was distracted, as her focus turned back to him…

"Nate?" Chatalie seemed to pause as she finally took notice of the boy, before her grin turned mischievous, and she quickly floated over to the boy's side. "Oh, hey Nathan! Good to see you, and thanks so much for approving my application to move into this apartment."

"No problem," Nate spoke carefully, uncomfortable with how close Chatalie had gotten to him…

"Do you mind?" Little Charrmer glared at the bigmouth. "I was in the middle of discussing something important with him!" moving over to Nate's side, the yo-kai hero grabbed hold of his arm.

"OH, so Nate's that possible hero you mentioned?" Chatalie smirked, "Well that's interesting, considering he and I have worked together in the past! Isn't that right, Nate?" she grabbed hold of the boy's other arm.

"Er, well that's _true_, I suppose," Nate muttered, nervously looking between the yo-kai girls he was now trapped between.

Chatalie chuckled, "Ha! See, if you think he's hero-material, surely you must also be willing to accept his _partner_!"

"W-Wait, partner?" Nate blinked questioningly.

"As if I'd believe anything _you_ say!" Little Charrmer snapped, tightening her grip on the boy's arm. "Nate, what is she to you? She's not your partner, is she!?"

"Well, no I wouldn't exactly– "

"So, are you saying I'm _not_ a friend of yours that comes to your aid when you call me?" Chatalie interrupted Nate, holding onto his other arm firmly.

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess you are– "

"Tell the truth, Nate! She doesn't actually help you fight villains, _does_ she?" Little Charrmer interrupted Nate, sending the other yo-kai a hateful glare.

"Fight villains? I don't even– "The human tried to correct but was once again interrupted.

"Of course, I help you with combatting any trouble-making yo-kai! You can't deny that, can you Nate?" Chatalie gave a dangerously wide smile.

"I mean, _when_ I summon you, I suppose– "Nate was still unable to finish a sentence.

"Being one of the many yo-kai that have given him their medals doesn't make you anything significant!" Little Charrmer stated, still glaring at Chatalie, before turning a menacing grin the boy's way, "Come on, Nate, tell me the truth; you hardly_ ever_ find need to summon _her_, do you…?"

"Uh…" Nate looked between the two again, his sweat worsening as panic started to settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Sleep…"

Suddenly, both Little Charrmer and Chatalie released Nate's arms, collapsing into sleeping piles, as a purple mist drifted over both.

Nate jumped back, looking down at the two briefly, before letting out a relieved sigh, "Thanks, Sandi…"

"No problem, Sweetie," Sandi smiled as she appeared in a plume of purple smoke, along with her sister.

"I know following Nate was the right decision, he almost got torn apart," Insomni said in a false-worried tone, looking towards the boy impishly.

"Yeah…" Nate muttered, his expression turning dull, not buying Insomni's act. "_That's_ why you followed me…"

Sandi let out a dramatic gasp, "Are you insinuating that we followed you for some _other_ reason than being worried about you?"

Insomni clasped her sister's hands, letting out a very-fake cry of anguish, "Oh, how cruel! To think our beloved would have such a low opinion of us!"

"I can feel my heart breaking!" Sandi let out a fake cry of her own, releasing her sister's hands as they both clutched their chests.

"Yes, I feel it too! Oh, the heartbreak!" Insomni put a hand over her eye. "Oh, boohoo-hoo!"

"Boohoo-hoo-hoo!"

Nate watched with a bored expression as the twins continued their fake crying, hugging each other and looking away from him. The boy shook his head, before he turned to walk away, "Well, thanks for the save, I guess…"

"Did you hear something, sister? Boohoo-hoo!" Insomni looked up, giving a small smirk to her twin.

"I think it was the sound of an apologetic cutie! Boohoo!" Sandi smiled back, before the two excitedly turned to where Nate had stood… only to see him gone.

"… We may have misheard," Insomni muttered, releasing her sister.

"We maybe should have toned down the crying…" Sandi muttered thoughtfully.

The twin djinn shrugged to one-another, before vanishing into purple clouds.

"Ug… what happened…?" Little Charrmer muttered as she started to stir.

"I soundly beat you in combat… obviously," Chatalie sleepily grunted.

"Shut… up," Little Charrmer growled lowly, too groggy to muster up much more of a response.

* * *

"There you are, Espy," Nate smiled as he stepped into the first floor's lounge area, finding a three-eyed, dog-like yo-kai floating in the room, a sandwich in her hand.

**Mysterious Tribe: Espy**

When the mindreading yo-kai noticed Nate, her face scrunched with her cheeks reddening slightly, which she quickly shook off and gave him a confident look. "Oh, hello Nathan. Yes, I have moved into this apartment, which you already knew; because Hidabat gave you a list…"

"Please don't read my mind," Nate muttered with a sigh.

Espy chuckled sinisterly, "_Sure_, and you might as well ask to be left alone by your… _harem_!?" the mind reader's face suddenly went ablaze as she glanced through the boy's thoughts, before she quickly floated over and slapped him.

"OW! What the heck, Espy!?" the human questioned, rubbing his cheek with a wince.

"Hmph!" the floating yo-kai turned away, before she took a bite from her sandwich and wordlessly floated out of the room.

"What was _that_ about…?" Nate muttered in befuddlement, his hand still on his cheek.

"Not sure, that was certainly weird…"

Nate looked towards the male voice, recognizing the green-skinned yo-kai seated on the couch in the room, "Oh, Faux Kappa."

**Charming Tribe: Faux Kappa**

"Hello Nathan," the classic yo-kai gave a thumbs-up to the boy, taking a bite from his cucumber. "I don't know why Espy slapped you, but I wouldn't worry too much about it; it seemed to have more to do with her than you, or that's how it seemed from where I'm sitting at least…"

"Yeah, that was weird…" Nate muttered, internally having a bit of an idea of _why_ Espy may have done that, but not wanting to acknowledge it. "Good to see you, Faux Kappa."

"Likewise, Walkappa told me about this place, not bad," the old-school kappa nodded in approval, holding up his food briefly. "And there's cucumbers available round the clock! Now that's what I call luxury!"

"I see, so that's what your kind considers 'luxury?'"

Nate and Faux Kappa both paused at the voice, before witnessing the appearance of another yo-kai; the nine-tailed fox yo-kai appeared in a blast of purple mist, giving a bow and chuckle as he floated in mid-air.

"It's good to see you again, Nate, and I'm sure you would think the same about me," the fox yo-kai grinned smugly as he focused on the boy.

**Mysterious Tribe: Kyubi**

"Yeah, it is good to see you again," Nate nodded, a bit surprised by the sudden appearance, but looking over the list; he could see that Kyubi was on it.

"What was the crack about 'your kind…?'" Faux Kappa gave the fox a scrutinizing glare, which went ignored…

"I must say, this place is rather impressive, Nathan; and I'm quite glad you had the proper sense to approve my moving in… even if it's clear you weren't exactly holding a high standard to whom could move in," the fox yo-kai shrugged with a bit of a chuckle.

"Okay,_ that_ time I'm sure you were trying to insult me!" the kappa snapped as he stood up from his seat, looking ready for a battle.

"Oh, are you _sure_?" Kyubi spoke sarcastically as he glared back at the kappa.

"I'm gonna knock that smug look off that ugly muzzle!" Faux Kappa announced aggressively.

Kyubi's eye twitched, "Did you just call my muzzle _ugly_…? Alright, I _was_ going to go easy on you, but now… no mercy!" the fox yo-kai took his own fighting stance, a fireball forming in his hand.

"NO FIGHTING!" Nate suddenly shouted out of frustration, halting both the yo-kai's movement. "Kyubi, I know you have a high opinion of yourself, but don't go insulting others if you don't wish to be insulted back!" Nate then to the kappa yo-kai, "Faux Kappa, I know he was rude, but you should keep your cool in situations like that, and not resort to violence…"

Both Kyubi and Faux Kappa stared at the human boy in a stunned silence, having not expected the forceful tone of voice he had spoken in, slowly, the two spoke in unison, "Uh… yeah, we'll not… fight."

Nate gave a thankful sigh, turning to walk out of the room, internally wondering where that outburst had come from, '_I must be more stressed out than I thought…_'

* * *

"I think… those were the last of the new move ins, for now…" Nate muttered to himself as he walked through the halls back towards the lobby, looking over the list with a nod.

"Finally caught you!"

Nate paused when he heard the excited voice coming from behind him, before he was caught off guard by an overenthusiastic yo-kai superhero jumping over him and landing in his way, "Ah! Little Charrmer!?"

"Yup! Charmed!" Little Charrmer winked as she smirked at the boy, "I've been trying to catch up to you since you gave me the slip earlier! Come on, we need to talk about costume and name ideas!" grabbing the human's right arm, Little Charrmer started dragging him forward.

"W-wait," Nate tried to speak in protest to the yo-kai hero's actions but couldn't manage to muster much more than a squeak, '_Okay, what happened to my no-nonsense tone from not too long ago!? Did I use it all up!?_'

"Hold it!" the dual voices of Insomni and Sandi shouted as they both appeared in front of Little Charrmer, "Let our Darling go!"

Little Charrmer blinked, staring at the two djinns blankly, "… _Darling_? Really?"

The twin yo-kai blinked at the unexpected tone, glancing at each other.

"Wait, is it odd to call him 'Darling?'" Insomni questioned, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, I thought it was supposed to be endearing," Sandi shrugged.

"Yeah, but nobody has been reacting like it is," Insomni sighed.

"Should we be calling him something else? How else do we express our affection for him?" Sandi groaned, putting her hands to her face.

Little Charrmer and Nate both stared at the djinn twins as they debated on this 'important' matter, the yo-kai heroine giving a slight shrug, continuing to pull Nate forward and through the halls.

"Maybe a cute pet name like…" Insomni trailed off from her thought as she took notice of the yo-kai superhero walking past her, "Hey! STOP!"

"Let Honeypoo go!" Sandi cried out.

There was a short pause as all went silent, Little Charrmer, Nate and even Insomni were giving the red-haired djinn odd looks.

"… Alright, that one obviously didn't work," Sandi huffed, glaring at Little Charrmer, "Still, let our future husband go!"

Little Charrmer's eyes narrowed, her patience waring thin, "He's not your 'future husband,' he's _my_ new sidekick!"

"OVER OUR ETHEREAL BODIES!" The twins shouted as one.

"I'm not one to fight civilians, but you two are getting really irritating," Little Charrmer growled, releasing Nate from her grip and holding both fists up.

Nate looked between the three yo-kai girls, thinking that he should probably make a run for it, '_There's no way this can end well…_'

"Nate? There you are!" Toiletta suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere, before she noticed the other three yo-kai girls, "Huh… what the…?" her eyes narrowed slightly as she held back a growl.

"Toiletta, we need to get out of here!" Nate quickly spoke, grabbing the ghost girl by the wrist.

"What? Hold on!" Toiletta hissed in protest, pulling her wrist away, hoping Nate didn't see the blush that appeared on her face. "What's going on here?"

"Toiletta, are you here to steal our future-husband too?" Insomni huffed as she and Sandi glared down at the smaller yo-kai female.

"It isn't very heroic to speak threateningly to little girls," "Little Charrmer chided the twins, stepping protectively in front of Nate and Toiletta.

"Little girl, grr…" the black-haired yo-kai girl growled in a low tone, before turning her focus to the human boy, "Nate, the _reason_ I'm here is to get you for breakfast," she spoke firmly as she looked the boy in the eyes. "Your parents were planning to get you themselves, but I had a feeling you might be up to something yo-kai related, so I volunteered."

Nate blinked, before giving a bit of an awkward smile, "Oh, thanks Toiletta. I guess I kind of lost track of time…"

The young girl ghost rolled her eyes, before giving her crush a playful grin, "Yeah, well, remember; I can't bail you out all the time, so be more careful, alright?"

Nate nodded with a good-natured smile, "Alright, I'll remember that. Thanks again."

Toiletta gave a small cough, looking to the floor to try and hide her blushing face, "Right, so we should get going if we don't want your parents to get concerned and come checking on us anyway…"

"Um, excuse me…?" Little Charrmer suddenly interrupted, giving Toiletta a skeptical look as she stepped between her and Nate, much to the former's irritation. "But are you a resident of the apartment? Why are you talking about him needing to get to breakfast?"

Toiletta let out a huff, puffing out her cheeks slightly at the dismissive way the yo-kai hero looked at her, "I do not live in this apartment, I live in Nate's house," the ghost girl allowed herself a subtle, smug smirk at the stunned look the new girl gave her. "And if you keep him here any longer, you'll be putting his ability to come here at all in jeopardy!"

"I… wouldn't exactly put it like _that_," Nate muttered, looking awkwardly between the two. "But… I _do_ need to get to breakfast, so… sorry Little Charrmer, we can discuss… what it was you wanted another time." Though he said that, Nate secretly hoped that other time would never come… "Insomni, Sandi, I'll see you two later as well."

The red-clad yo-kai hero looked both annoyed and disappointed, but nodded, "Alright, I get it. We'll talk later then… don't forget!" she winked at Nate, before doing a backflip and rushing off down the hall at super speed…

"… Alright," Nate muttered, staring in awe at the exit.

"That was unnecessary," Toiletta commented in a much more cynical manner.

"I can't help but agree," Insomni nodded as she drifted over to Toiletta, before giving her a strange look. "So, what do you mean by you 'live in Nate's house?' Are you just haunting the home to the inconvenience of the family?"

Toiletta growled, "No, I actually falsified a human identity and the paperwork to show me as a foreign exchange student to his school, and the Adams as my host family!" after that exclamation, the young ghost girl covered her mouth, "Er, I mean… come on Nate!"

Before the human could respond, his spectral schoolmate grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back towards the elevator.

Insomni blinked, her sister floating over to her, both of them exchanging a thoughtful look, "Hmm… pretending to be a student…?"

Further down the hall Chatalie was watching with some interest, a large smirk snaking its way onto her face.

Chatalie was unaware of the three-eyed yo-kai whom was watching her, and going through her mind from further down the hall…

* * *

After breakfast, Nate had asked Toiletta if she wanted to play one of his new video games with him, and to his surprise; she agreed. Now the two sat before the tv in the living room, playing a fighting game titled; 'Hyper Bash Family: Infinity,' the latest entry in the 'Hyper Bash Family' game series, featuring every playable character in the entirety of the series, and more.

"I got you this time," Nate smirked, pushing the control stick to command his two-headed green dragon-looking character to move around Toiletta's mystical knight-looking character and preform a lunge attack.

"Oh, are you _sure_?" the ghost girl let out a mischievous giggle, before pressing a quick series of buttons that had her character shield and quickly counterattack her opponent, sending him flying off the screen, and ending the match. "Huh, seems I win again."

"Oh, I really thought I had you this time," despite his repeated loss, Nate smiled, chuckling along with the girl as the game brought them back to the character select screen.

"Maybe you should try a different character," Toiletta suggested helpfully. "I know you like Reswob, but his style of brutal hits and slow movements isn't a good match against my man Knil."

Nate smirked, "No way, Reswob has been my main since Demolition! I'm not abandoning him now!"

"How stubborn," Whisper suddenly interjected, floating over the boy's side and crossing his arms. "When in an unfavorable match-up, it's only the logical thing to do to change things up, sticking to a strategy that doesn't work is not only foolish, it is arguably insane!"

Nate and Toiletta both gave the yo-kai butler annoyed looks.

"… Though, I suppose games are about having fun, so do as you like!" Whisper chuckled nervously as he backed away from the duo.

After Whisper left their view, Toiletta turned back to Nate, giving a pleasant smile, "Well, if you won't change characters, I suppose I'll just have to!"

"Really? Even though you were beating me just fine?" Nate rose a brow with a playful grin on his face.

"Just to change things up, besides; I can beat you no matter which character I use!" Toiletta stuck her tongue out at the boy, using her controller to select a different character; a large, mutated t-rex-looking beast, a new, though long awaited, addition to the game; Yeldir.

"We'll see about that!" Nate smirked confidently, keeping his selection of Reswob.

Sure enough, one match later Nate had still not won against his yo-kai opponent.

"Wow, Hanako, I didn't expect you to be so good," Nate praised, careful to use the ghost girl's 'human name' in case of his parents stepping in. "You sure you've never played before?"

Toiletta hid her slightly flustered face, letting out a cough and putting on an air of confidence, "W-Well, you know, I guess I'm a natural. It's to be expected of course, I possess many hidden talents!"

"Clearly, and that just makes me want to beat you more!" Nate smirked widely

Toiletta still looked flustered, but gave a bit of a mischievous chuckle, giving a side-smirk to her opponent. "You can_ want_ it all you want, but that won't make it happen."

"When will it be my turn to play…?" Sailornyan questioned in a bored tone as she hung on the back of the couch, her eyes drifted from the TV screen, to Nate and Toiletta's forms. "I want to play video games with the Captain too!"

"I wouldn't recommend that, Sailornyan," Toiletta regarded the cat yo-kai with a side-glance. "It would be kind of troublesome is one of Nate's parents were to walk in and see their son playing against a _floating controller_…"

"Nya…" Sailornyan drooped, falling onto a cushion, conceding to Toiletta's point.

Nate gave a sympathetic look towards the cat, "Don't worry Sailornyan, we can play some different games in my room later!"

The pink nekomata perked up at her 'Captain's' assurance, "Nya! Thanks Captain Nyate!"

Nate leaned back and gave the cat yo-kai an affectionate pat on the head, inciting a purr from her.

Toiletta put down her controller, looking at her crush with a slightly dreamy expression, before she released a small sigh, "Hey, um… Nate?"

Blinking, the human boy looked towards the humanoid yo-kai, "Yeah?"

Toiletta nervously shuffled in place for a few seconds, looking anywhere but directly at the boy, her face reddening, "Well… you know, it's the weekend and all, and… you don't have any plans, do you…?"

Nate scratched his head a bit unsurely, putting his controller onto the ground next to the other, "Uh, yeah; other than visiting the apartment earlier, and this, I haven't really decided what I'm going to do today…" internally Nate was growing suspicious and worried about where the girl was going with this…

The bathroom-dwelling spirit let out another heavy breath, "So, you don't have plans. And, well… _I_ don't have plans…"

A trickle of sweat formed on Nathan's brow.

Toiletta's face burned red as she continued to avert her eyes from the boy, "So, do you think maybe, if it's not too much trouble, you might want to– "

A knock on the front door sounded before the ghost girl could finish her sentence.

"I'LL GET IT!" Nate suddenly shot up, a stiff look on his face, his eyes wide and fearful. The boy didn't wait for any response before he rushed towards the house's entrance.

Toiletta let out a disappointed sigh.

"Nya…" Sailornyan rolled over on the couch, hiding her satisfied smirk as she glanced towards her rival for Nate's affection.

"Honestly, that boy will never become a man if he just runs away from every instance of female affection, he's hopeless," Whisper shrugged as he floated down to Toiletta's side.

The Eerie yo-kai's expression suddenly turned dark, her hand shooting forward and roughly grabbing the butler by his tail.

"Alright, message received, shutting up!" Whisper let out a fearful whimper as he found himself staring into a pair of terrifying eyes, before he was released and quickly hid behind the couch.

Nate was about to reach the door but was cut off by his mother walking down the stairs and passed him.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I've got it," Lily assured with a motherly smile as she walked up to the door.

"Oh… thanks," Nate stood frozen, his eyes nervously darting back to the living room…

Lily didn't notice her son's nervous state, opening the door and giving a bright smile, "Oh, Amy! How nice to see you!"

"Hello Mrs. Adams!" the pigtailed girl greeted cheerfully, stepping into the house, a reluctant Jibanyan following her, unseen by the present adult. "I'm here to see Nate, is he… oh, hi Nate!" Amy's smile widened, a slight tint of pink appearing on her cheeks as she took notice of the nearby boy, enthusiastically waving to him.

Lily chuckled a bit at the cute display.

Nate's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the visitor, "A-Amy…?"

"Nate, why don't you take Amy over to play your video games with Hanako?" Lily offered as she glanced between the two children.

"Hanako…?" Amy gave a curious look at the unfamiliar name.

"A-Alright, come on… Amy," Nate nervously nodded, motioning for the visitor to follow him to the living room, his eyes glancing to the red nekomata that followed as well.

Lily watched them with a pleasant smile, though she couldn't help feeling a twinge of worry, '_I hope Amy and Hanako get along fine… and my son doesn't end up being torn apart._'

* * *

"So, uh, make yourselves at home, I guess…" Nate offered unsurely as he walked back into the living room, followed by Amy and Jibanyan.

"Of course," Amy enthusiastically nodded, before she took note of Toiletta, whom was giving her an irritated glare. "Huh…?"

"Nya," Jibanyan gave an irritated grumble, pointedly trying to ignore Nate as he pulled up onto the couch, seating himself beside Sailornyan.

Sailornyan gave the other nekomata a slight glare, scooting away from him with a low hiss.

Jibanyan glared back at the pink cat, the tension between the two rising slowly.

"Ah, Miss. Amy, it's nice to see you again!" Whisper greeted with a polite bow as he floated up to the human guest.

"Hi Whisper, nice to see you as well," the thirteen-year-old girl greeted back, now able to see Whisper as she had revealed him with her watch in a previous encounter.

"You don't nyeed to lie to make him feel good, Amy," Jibanyan grunted, taking a break from his glaring contest with Sailornyan to give the ghost butler a dull look.

"Why I never!" Whisper gasped, glaring at the cat yo-kai with a scoff, "Hasn't living with this polite young lady given you any progress in the manners department!?"

Jibanyan gave an uncaring snort in response to Whisper's criticism but froze up when he noticed how Amy was giving him a stern look.

"Rudy, _what_ did I tell you?" the pigtailed girl questioned in the scary tone, which Nate had internally labelled as her 'mom voice…'

Jibanyan quickly stood up on two legs, giving several stiff bows, "Right, right! Sorry, Whisper! I didn't mean that!"

"That's better," Amy's stern expression turned back to its previous cheerful form.

Whisper paused, unsurely glancing between the nekomata and the human girl, "Er… I'm not sure if I would call that _progress_, but it's something… I suppose."

Nate just gave an awkward laugh, nervously glancing between the different occupants of the room.

Toiletta continued to look at Amy with irritation, before she finally stood up and pointed towards her, "Alright; who are you, and why are you here?"

"Huh," Amy blinked, looking at the shorter girl with surprise over her suddenly speaking, before doing her best to give a friendly smile, despite the creepy feeling she was getting from the girl, and her intimidating glare, "Oh, um, I'm Amy, it's nice to meet you, uh… Hanako, right?" she guessed, remembering the name Nate's mother had spoken. "Are you… Nate's little sister?"

"… _What_?" Toiletta nearly snarled at that question, her face contorting with barely contained rage.

Alarm bells starting ringing in Nate's head, and he quickly jumped between the two girls, "Um, Amy this is…" the boy made a quick glance to make sure his mother or father wasn't in earshot before he continued, "The name she's going under as a human is Hanako, but she's actually– "

"Toiletta, I'm sure you've heard of me," the humanoid yo-kai interrupted with a huff, still glaring at the human girl.

"Uh, yeah…" Nate nodded slowly, his nervous eyes darting between Toiletta and Amy.

Amy seemed to calm a bit at the introduction, allowing a somewhat impressed smile as she looked over the other girl, "Wait, you're the real Toiletta? Like, the urban legend…?"

"_The_ urban legend is a bit misleading," Toiletta's previous scowl gave way to a bit of an arrogant smirk. "I'm not exactly the _only_ 'Toiletta' in the world. But, as far as Springdale's concerned, yeah; that's me." She gave a bow, before crossing her arms and giving the girl a slightly critical glance, "So… you're another kid with a yo-kai watch…?"

Nate let out a small sigh of relief as the tension between the two girls seemed to be dissipating.

Amy nodded quickly, "Yeah, Nate gave it to me!" she proudly showed off the old yo-kai watch strapped to her wrist.

Toiletta's eye ever-so-subtly twitched, "Oh, did he now…?"

Nate suddenly stiffened, feeling the tension return to the room, and a shiver dance down his spine.

Amy didn't seem to notice any such tension, continuing to smile at Toiletta, "Yeah; I'm still new to this whole yo-kai thing, I haven't encountered too many yet, but I got a few medals…" reaching into her pocket, the human girl produced three yo-kai medals.

Nate recognized two of the medals as Blazion and Walkappa's, though the third was a yo-kai he hadn't yet encountered; it appeared to be some kind of blue bird, or pterosaur, looking yo-kai, and the red coloration and design of the medal indicated it was a classic yo-kai.

True to his nature as a classic yo-kai fan, Whisper quickly jumped in when he spotted the medal, "What!? You obtained the medal of the classic yo-kai Letsbifrenz!? How did you accomplish that, and so quickly into your yo-kai watch using career!?"

Amy was taken aback by the enthusiasm of the yo-kai butler, "Uh… he just popped up by my bedside one night, and asked to be friends… so I said yes, and he gave me his medal…"

"He's a weirdo, we should have just kicked him out…" Jibanyan hissed, rolling over on the couch. "Now he lives in the closet… like Hidabat, but creepier…"

Amy sweatdropped, "Oh, come on Rudy, he's not… _that_ bad…"

"YOU'RE LIVING WITH A CLASSIC YO-KAI!?" Whisper exclaimed with excitement and disbelief.

Nate let out a grunt as he rubbed his ear, deciding it would probably be best not to mention of Faux Kappa's recent move into the apartment…

Toiletta grabbed Whisper by the tail, giving him a plain glare as she pulled him down to her eye-level, "Leave her alone you annoying butler!"

"Yeah!" Jibanyan looked ready for a fight.

Whisper gulped under the glares, before he nodded, slipping away and back behind the couch.

Amy let out an awkward cough, glancing at Whisper's departure with concern, "Uh, he really wasn't causing much trouble…"

"Defending that guy is unnecessary," Toiletta huffed, looking to Amy, before tossing her a medal. "Here, take this. You seem like the kind that could use a bit of help every now and then," the ghost girl glanced towards Nate, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he seemed happy with her display of 'compassion…'

Amy caught the medal, looking at it with joy, "Wow, thanks! I'll be sure to keep you in mind if I ever need help!"

Toiletta seemed put off by Amy's earnest gratitude, and the fact that the girl still seemed to show no hint of jealousy or malice towards her regarding proximity to Nate. Shuffling a bit in place, Toiletta glanced to the floor, "Well, uh… just be sure to think carefully before you go summoning me on a whim…"

"Of course!" Amy nodded quickly. "I will be thoughtful; I recall Rudy mentioned a bit how it can be annoying to be summoned without notice!"

Nate twitched a bit, "Oh… did he now…?"

"Yeah, what of it?" the red cat yo-kai grunted, glaring at the male yo-kai watch user.

"Really Nate, you could stand to be a bit more thoughtful with your summoning," Amy spoke up helpfully, before putting her hands to her hip and giving Jibanyan a stern look once more, "Though, I have a feeling I've gotten a pretty bias picture on that matter, and that there are a few things that you'd like to complain about a certain cat…"

Jibanyan's position quickly slumped, letting out a miserable 'nya' under the stern gaze.

"Hmm, as motherly as ever," Whisper quietly commented from behind the couch.

Sailornyan let out a satisfied chuckle at Jibanyan's discomfort.

"While I'm sure Jibanyan did a lot of unwarranted whining– "

Jibanyan drooped further at Toiletta's insult.

"Nate could stand to be a _bit_ more thoughtful when summoning us yo-kai," the humanoid yo-kai finished, crossing her arms and giving her crush a plain look.

Nate let out a small cough, glancing away with embarrassment, "Well… I won't argue with you on that."

Toiletta chuckled a bit at how she had managed to get the boy flustered, "Oh, don't worry about it so much; _you_ can summon me _anytime_."

Nate looked back at the ghost girl thankfully, missing the double meaning behind her words.

Amy also seemed to miss this little hint from Toiletta, as she decided to move onto a different subject, her smile unchanging, "Anyway, there is a reason we came over today, and it wasn't just for a friendly visit!" the pigtailed girl glanced at Nate, blushing slightly, "Not that… I wouldn't want to just come over for a friendly visit, I'd be happy to do that on pretty much any day, if you'd like…"

Jibanyan let out a loud groan in revulsion over his owner's crush on Nate, "If you're nyot going to tell him, we really should just go nyow!"

"I'm getting to it, Rudy, please don't interrupt," Amy didn't raise her voice, but the return of the 'mom voice' was enough to get Jibanyan to go silent. The human girl released a breath, before looking towards Nate again, "Jibanyan got ahold of two tickets for a Next HarMEOWny concert. He wanted me to go with him, but I think it would be better if you went with him!"

At that cheerful declaration from Amy there were a multitude of responses from the different occupants of the room; Nate looked surprised, Jibanyan gave an annoyed groan, Sailornyan seemed irritated and let out a small hiss, Toiletta raised a brow, and Whisper looked intrigued.

It took a moment before Nate responded, "Amy, uh… thanks for coming here to offer that, but… are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, I don't even really like Next HarMEOWny, and– "

"See, he doesn't want to either! I told you!" Jibanyan suddenly interrupted, jumping down from the couch and pointing at Nate in an almost accusatory manner.

"Rudy!" Amy snapped in response to the rude interruption. "At least let him finish!"

"I didn't say I didn't want to go," Nate quickly spoke up, looking down at Jibanyan with an annoyed look.

"Well, you don't! I knyow you; you have horrible taste! You'd nyever want to go to a Nyext HarMEOWny concert!" the red nekomata blazed, jumping up and down on the floor while waving a paw at Nate. It seems even Amy's 'mom voice' wasn't enough to get him to calm down at this point.

Before either Nate or Amy could give another response, Sailornyan let out another hiss, standing up on the couch, "Alright, I've had enough of you!" the female nekomata jumped down, glaring at her male counterpart fiercely. "You've insulted the Captain for the last time!"

"Again, with the 'Captain' thing!? What's wrong with you!?" Jibanyan snapped at Sailornyan, looking ready to battle her.

"If you can't see why he deserves respect, that just makes me angrier!" Sailornyan snapped back.

The two nekomata dropped onto all fours and circled each other dangerously, their backs raised, and their tail flames blazing. Toiletta stepped back from what looked like was about to become a very literal 'catfight.'

Amy looked confused as she watched Jibanyan seemingly about to do battle against nothing, Sailornyan remaining unseen to her.

"Hold on, stop it! Both of you!" Nate suddenly interjected, grabbing both nekomata by the scruffs of their necks, and lifting them off the ground. "No fighting you two!"

"But Captain Nyate! He's such a jerk!" Sailornyan struggled in her 'Captain's' grip, giving him a desperate look, while pointing at Jibanyan. "He doesn't respect you, he's mean and, and, and– "

"Stop whining to him, already!" Jibanyan snapped, also struggling in Nate's grip. "He doesn't deserve any respect after he REPLACED me with _YOU_!"

"I didn't–Ug, "Nate sighed, lowering the two cat yo-kai down, and focusing on the male cat. "Jibanyan, Sailornyan did _not_ replace you. It's true, I allowed her to move into my room partially because I missed having you around…"

"Nya…?" Jibanyan blinked, apparently surprised to hear that Nate had missed him.

Nate rubbed the back of his neck unsurely, glancing between the two cats, "But… look, Sailornyan isn't a replacement for you, she couldn't be! She's… the two of you are _very_ different, you both being cat yo-kai aside. I did grow pretty attached to her pretty quickly after I met her…"

Sailornyan preened a bit with a pleased smile at the mention of her 'Captain' being attached to her.

"I'm sorry that you felt like I had a replacement ready for you as soon as you left, or something…" Nate looked uncertain of his words, but he continued, kneeling down to Jibanyan's level, "That isn't what happened, but… I know I could have better handled your first encounter with her too; instead of keeping a cool head and trying to explain things to you, I got protective of Sailornyan and made you feel like the bad guy…" he looked at Sailornyan, whom tilted her head a bit in confusion. "And because of that, the two of you got off on completely the wrong foot, and I'm really sorry…"

Jibanyan seemed a bit stunned by the apology, letting out a small cough and looking unsure for how to respond immediately after.

"Wait, Sailornyan's here, isn't she?" Amy questioned remembering Jibanyan mentioning the other nekomata to her before. Pulling up her watch, she pressed the button and shined the light around the room, before she found where Sailornyan stood and revealed her. "Aha! There you are… wow, you're a lot cuter than Rudy made you sound!"

Sailornyan perked up at Amy's praise, before giving Jibanyan a side-glare, "Really…? How _did_ he make me sound…?"

"I was mad! I can't be expected to have described things accurately!" the red nekomata was quick to defend himself.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Amy quickly waved away concerns of Jibanyan's possible false-description of his fellow cat yo-kai, while she focused on Sailornyan for a minute with an appreciative eye, "I really like that little outfit of yours! It's adorable!"

The compliment to her attire seemed to snap Sailornyan out of any displeasure she may have had with the other feline, "Really? You think so?"

"Yeah! I've been thinking about possibly making clothing for Rudy and seeing how it works on you only confirms to me that I should do it!" Amy nodded with an excited expression.

"Hm, Jibanyan in a sailor suit, I'd pay to see that," Whisper chuckled as he popped back up from behind the couch.

"I think he'd probably look better in something akin to business attire," Toiletta suggested, moving back over to her previous position, now that the threat of 'cat combat' seemed to have passed.

Jibanyan let out an uncomfortable meow at the comments of possible clothing for him, and how Amy seemed to be taking them both into consideration…

"Jibanyan…" Nate spoke up again, bringing the male nekomata's attention back to him. "Look, I meant what I said; Sailornyan isn't a replacement for you, she's another of my friends and lives with me, but nobody could replace you!" Nate seemed to be getting a bit emotional as he spoke to the red feline. "You were the first yo-kai to ever give me their medal, despite problems we might have, you've been one of my most reliable friends ever since I got into the world of yo-kai. Even if we don't live together anymore, you're still one of my best friends!"

Jibanyan stared at the human boy for a moment, his eyes watered a bit at the sincerity in Nate's tone, "Oh… Nyate! I'm sorry I've been so mad at you! You're one of my best friends too!" jumping forward into Nate's arms, the two friends shared a tight hug.

"Ah, they've finally made up…" Amy let out a sigh of both happiness and relief in response to seeing her crush and cat hugging.

"Yeah… I suppose," Sailornyan looked a bit unsure of her feelings on this manner, though she didn't seem jealous.

"It's sappy is what it is," Toiletta rolled her eyes, hiding the soft smile that appeared on her face.

"Well, I'd say it's about time that those two patched things up! It was an unnecessary bout of tension!" Whisper piped in, fully floating out from behind the couch and giving a satisfied nod.

Ignoring the comments towards them, Nate put Jibanyan back down and nods to him, "Jibanyan, I may not be the biggest fan of Next HarMEOWny, but I'll come to the concert with you; it will be good to catch up!"

"I suppose that makes sense," Jibanyan nodded in agreement. "And, if you come, maybe you'll finally appreciate how great Nyext HarMEOWny really is!"

"Uh… sure," Nate didn't look so sure of that, though another thought did come to his mind, "Say… why does a yo-kai need a ticket to go to a human concert anyway? Couldn't you just walk in?"

Jibanyan seemed offended at the idea, "Are you nyuts!? Nyo real fan would do such a thing! There are a good number of yo-kai fans of Nyext HarMEOWny, and there are some that make sure only yo-kai that paid for a ticket see the concert!" the nekomata nodded to himself in satisfaction. "It's actually mostly cat yo-kai, though there are others!"

"I suppose that makes sense," Nate muttered, thinking back to other times Jibanyan had gone off to concerts, and other yo-kai whom seemed interested in Next HarMEOWny.

"Grr, Nyext HarMEOWny," Sailornyan scoffed at the mention of the idol group.

Jibanyan's ears twitched, turning to Sailornyan with an offended look over how she had spoken, "What's the problem?"

"Nyext HarMEOWny is the problem! What's so great about them anyway!?" Sailornyan growled, crossing her arms. "It's nyot like all those male cat yo-kai obsessed with them are even in it for their _music_! Why exactly do all the cat yo-kai seemed to have such a preference for human women over their own kind!?"

"Like _you're_ one to talk," Toiletta quietly muttered, looking away from Sailornyan and glancing at Nate.

Jibanyan let out a snarl as he went onto all fours again, looking at the pink nekomata with fire in his eyes, "Alright, I might have dropped the 'replacement' thing, but no way am I gonnya let you get away with insulting Nyext HarMEOWny– "

"NO! NO FIGHTING!" Nate and Amy both shouted before Sailornyan could even give a retort.

Jibanyan and Sailornyan stared at each other for a few more seconds, before they both drooped a bit, "_Fine_…"

"But, if she insults Nyext HarMEOWny again, we're gonnya have problems," Jibanyan threatened, giving another glare to his pink counterpart.

Sailornyan stuck her tongue out at the other cat, before jumping up onto the couch again and curling up into a comfortable position.

"Still, I suppose we'll be going to the concert together, so I hope you look forward to that, Nyate," Jibanyan spoke in an absolute tone that offered no argument for the boy, though internally the cat yo-kai was already reconsidering, '_Wait a minyute… with how things have been going, if Nyate comes to a Nyext HarMOEWny concert…_' Jibanyan looked up towards Amy, noting how she took a brief moment to send an affectionate look Nate's way, and how Toiletta had been stealing glances at him as well… it was enough to get the cat yo-kai thinking over the worst of possibilities…

* * *

"_NATE! WE LOVE YOU!" every member of Nyext HarMEOWny squealed with hearts in their eyes as they crowded around the boy. "WILL YOU MARRY ALL OF US!?"_

_Nate, despite how he would typically shy away from the dreaded 'Harem Effect,' seemed much more receptive of Next HarMEOWny's affections. "Alright! Let's get married right now!"_

_The girls of Next HarMEOWny cheered loudly, throwing off their cat-themed garb to reveal wedding dresses underneath, before they grabbed a suddenly-tuxedo-garbed Nate and held him overhead while they all ran towards a conveniently placed church._

"_NYA!?" Jibanyan cried out in despair as he stood in their path, before the girls swept him up in their cheerful charge to get married to Nate, tossing the cat yo-kai into a trashcan along the way…_

* * *

Jibanyan slapped himself to destroy the offending mental images, restraining himself from shuddering at the idea, before reorganizing his thoughts and calming down a bit, '_Nyo, wait… Nyate's only eleven, and all the girls in Nyext HarMEOWny are in their late teens, at the least. Even if Nyate's getting a 'harem' for some weird reason, surely it wouldn't get __**that **__weird! I probably don't nyeed to worry about them falling for him._' The cat yo-kai nodded to himself in satisfaction of that logic.

Nate looked at the red nekomata with an unsure expression, having just seen him shift through several extreme looks of discomfort and anguish, before almost instantly calming down, "Jibanyan, is something the matter…?"

"Nya…?" Jibanyan blinked, before quickly shaking off all his thoughts and turning to Nate with a cheerful nod, "Nyothing's wrong, Nyate! Don't you worry, we're gonnya have a great time at the Nyext HarMEOWny concert!"

Sailornyan released a few grumbles at the mention of 'Nyext HarMEOWny' again but didn't raise her voice over it.

"I'm still not sure if it'll be my thing, but I'll try my best," Nate gave a bit of an awkward chuckle.

Before either Nate or Jibanyan knew it, Amy suddenly cheered and tightly wrapped her arms around both of them, pulling them close, "I'm so happy everything between you two is alright now! I was worried over this for days!" as she hugged the two boys, the pigtailed girl nuzzled Jibanyan's head a bit, getting him to purr in response, before she turned to the human boy in her grip, and quickly planted a kiss onto his cheek.

Nate's face went ablaze at the sudden kiss, finding himself unable to speak, or struggle out of Amy's grip…

Jibanyan's happiness quickly faded at the reminder of the romantic affection his owner held for Nate, but quickly repressed any urge to show disgust, or hurt Nate, as he did not want to ruin the girl's cheerful mood, or give her any reason to get sour with him.

"I don't really know about this whole concert idea, I'd think a more enjoyable experience could be found elsewhere, but I'll try my best as well, I suppose," Whisper relented with a shrug as he floated around the room, settling by Nate's side.

"Whisper, you're nyot coming," Jibanyan stated bluntly.

Despite his apparent disinterest, this comment had the yo-kai butler freeze up, before sending the cat yo-kai a glare, "Oh, and why not!?"

"_Two_ tickets, remember?" Jibanyan's blunt tone went unchanged. "Yo-kai can't just waltz into the concert without any tickets, and that would include you!"

"Oh… right," Whisper's expression fell.

"Seems like you_ did_ want to go," Toiletta commented with a bit of a chuckle.

Whisper shook away any look of disappointment, giving the urban legend an insulted look, "Excuse me!? I merely am concerned for my master's wellbeing if he is to be without his faithful butler for any extended period!"

"Right, because you're _ever so helpful_ when it comes to matters involving his _safety_…" Toiletta's tone slowly turned menacing as she stared at the butler in an unnerving manner.

Catching onto what Toiletta was recalling, Whisper wisely chose to back away from the topic, "Um, as I was saying! I'm sure Nate will be fine going to a concert with Jibanyan! Yes, I'm absolutely sure!" a few drops of sweat dropped from the nervous ghost's head, before he let out a relieved sigh and whipped some of it away when the ghost girl looked away from him and the menacing air faded…

'_Come to think of it, Pandanoko could probably get us all into the concert, if we asked…_' Nate thought to himself briefly, before he shook away that idea, deciding it best not to mention it.

"Alright, so we got that all out of the way, so can we get back to me beating you at video games?" Toiletta questioned Nate, an irritated look plain on her face.

"Oh, right," Nate was caught off guard by the way the ghost girl was looking at him, and he suspected it wasn't entirely because she wanted to play video games…

"Game…?" Amy looked at the TV, which was still on the character select screen, curiously.

Nate noticed the pigtailed girl's interest, and decided to take the opportunity he saw, "Yeah; it's Hyper Bash Family: Infinity. Do you want to play? I'm kind of spent, and Toiletta keeps beating me…"

Toiletta pouted a bit at Nate's denial of playing with her, but she quickly gained a smug look as she decided to take the opportunity to show off a bit to her new 'rival,' "Yeah, this guy couldn't beat me even once; I'd think twice before you accept the challenge!"

Instead of being intimidated, Amy seemed excited, "Wow, well than, I'll have to try my hardest!" sitting down and grabbing the controller that Nate had left behind, she quickly selected her character; the ethereal princess Adlez.

Toiletta let out a small scoff at her opponent's enthusiasm, changing her character back to Knil, before starting the match.

The confidence the yo-kai girl held at the beginning of the match slowly faded throughout it, as it became more and more apparent that it wasn't as one-sided as her matches with Nate were.

"Wow, I won!" Amy cheerfully announced when the results of the match concluded.

"Huh, you could actually keep up with her…?" Nate muttered in surprise, "Am… I just bad at this game…?"

Amy gave a slightly embarrassed look, before speaking in a tone to assure the boy, "Actually, I used to play a lot of the arcade version of this series previous entry a couple years back, it helped me with some… of the frustrations I had with my parents…"

The reasoning for Amy's skill gave Nate a bit of assurance that it wasn't just that he was 'bad' at the game, and he chose not to question the girl on what those 'issues' with her parents might have been.

Toiletta gave a small laugh, waving her hand, "Eh, you think playing some arcade version puts you at the level of a natural like me? You just got lucky! I demand a rematch!"

Amy blinked in surprise at the sudden challenge, but soon gained a competitive smirk, to the surprise of all other present, aside from Jibanyan. "Alright, but you'll regret underestimating me!"

The match ended in Toiletta's victory this time, but Amy was quick to claim that she hadn't yet fully gotten into 'game mode' yet, and thus they rematched again, and things only continued in this manner…

Nate could only watch in pure befuddlement as the two girls had rematch after rematch, sitting down onto the couch and giving Sailornyan a few absentminded pets, "Huh… I did not expect this sort of rivalry to form between those two…"

"Honestly? I'm just happy to see Amy enjoying video games again," Jibanyan shrugged.

"I win!" Amy exclaimed in triumph of the latest matches outcome.

"Rematch!" Toiletta demanded, shaking her controller in the air.

* * *

Later that same day Nate and Jibanyan stood in line outside of Sparkopolis' Next HarMEOWny theater, slowly moving up to the building.

Nate held back his surprise at how many people were interested in a Next HarMEOWny concert, and he was sure if he scanned the area with his watch, he would see a good number of yo-kai scattered about as well.

Jibanyan stood by the young human's side, looking like he could barely contain his excitement, and could rocket off at any moment… "This is going to be great! Did you know that Nyext HarMEOWny will be premiering a NEW SONG at this show!? It's been all everyone's been talking about on the Nyext HarMEOWny fan forums!"

Nate tried his best to sound interested, "Yeah, it's really great, Jibanyan…"

"You BET it is!" Hailey exclaimed in excitement, grabbing the brunette boy by the shoulder and let out a few cheers while thrusting her free arm into the air.

Nate was shaken by the sudden appearance of his schoolmate, pulling himself from her look and looking at her oddly, "Hailey, what are you doing here?"

The purple-haired girl smirked widely, holding back a chuckle as she looked back at her (secret) crush, "Are you kidding? You think I would miss out on this show!? You know they're going to be holding a raffle for some exclusive merchandise at the end of the show!"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that!" Jibanyan jumped up in excitement, letting out another cheer. "I didn't realize you were also a fan of Nyext HarMEOWny, Hailey!"

Hailey's eyes sparkled as she looked down at the cat yo-kai, "Are you KIDDING!? They're so cool! They even once did a song for a Sailor Cuties special!"

Jibanyan's eyes widened, "What!? I didn't even knyow about that! What special is that!?"

Nate sighed as Hailey and Jibanyan continued to converse about Next HarMEOWny, having his attention slip away while he stared at the clouds in the sky for a few moments…

"Nate…? NATE!?"

Nate blinked, before looking over at Hailey questioningly.

"Oh, good, you _are_ still with us," the glasses-wearing girl giggled, sticking her tongue out at the boy, before speaking again, "I was trying to ask you how you think I'd do as a member of Next HarMEOWny!"

Briefly imagining Hailey in the same outfit associated with the band, Nate sweatdropped, "Er… I guess you'd fit in fine…"

Hailey let out an excited squeal, giving Nate a quick hug before looking to Jibanyan triumphantly, "See, told ya!"

The cat yo-kai scoffed, "Like that proves anything, Nyate's not even a fan of Nyext HarMEOWny!"

"I value Nate's opinion more than yours," Hailey shrugged with an amused expression.

"And that doesn't bother me!" Jibanyan waved a paw dismissively as he turned away from the human girl.

Nate just watched the two with a blank expression, before shaking his head and putting focus back on their destination, "At least it looks like the line is moving…"

"I say, do my eyes deceive me, is that you my comrades!?" a cicada-like yo-kai suddenly spoke up, buzzing over to the trio with a wave. "Greetings, Nathan, Jibanyan! Are you also here to see the Next HarMEOWny concert?"

**Charming Tribe: Cadin**

"Looks like we weren't the only ones that were able to get tickets, good on ya'," A blue-furred nekomata wearing samurai-looking armor commented as he followed after the cicada yo-kai.

**Brave Tribe: Shogunyan**

"Oh, hey!" Jibanyan greeted.

"Shogunyan, Cadin, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're here as well…" Nate shrugged, giving a small smile to the two yo-kai friends' arrivals.

"Alright, more yo-kai friends of the Yo-kai Master, I really shouldn't be surprised by some unexpected appearances in that regard!" Hailey suddenly cheered.

"Please don't call me that…" Nate muttered with an embarrassed expression.

"I refuse to stop," Hailey giggled playfully. '_He's so cute when he's embarrassed!_'

"… Who's this?" Shogunyan questioned, gesturing his sword to the girl.

"I do believe that's the 'yo-kai detective' I've heard some things about, ming-ming!" Cadin clarified with a nod.

Hailey gained a wide smile, "Oh, so you've heard of me! Glad to know I'm starting to get up there in recognition with the yo-kai community!"

"I think I have heard a few things about a duo of 'yo-kai detectives,' one of which being a human in possession of a yo-kai watch…" the Legendary yo-kai muttered thoughtfully, but quickly turned his focus back to the boy. "Speaking of hearing about things; one thing I've been hearing a lot about lately is that whole 'yo-kai apartment' you supposedly have going at your home, Nathan!"

"Oh, you've heard about that," Nate scratched his head as he focused on the blue nekomata. "I don't really 'have it going,' it's kind of Hidabat's thing… but he does run application for moving in by me, for approval…" he slightly shuddered as he recalled how many applications he had to sift through before…

"We were actually discussing the prospect of applying for living space there before we ran into you!" Cadin declared proudly.

"We're still not entirely sure, but good to hear from you that it's for real," Shogunyan shrugged.

"Well… if you decide to move in, I'll be sure to approve your applications," Nate assured, giving a small chuckle.

"Would you approve me moving into that apartment, Nate?" Hailey questioned with a goofy expression, snaking her way behind the boy and placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Hailey… it's for yo-kai," Nate bluntly pointed out, without even looking at the girl.

"I call discrimination!" the purple-haired girl shouted, trying her best not to break out into a laugh.

Nate rolled his eyes, before focusing on the cicada yo-kai, "By the way, Cadin, don't you have trouble with staying awake? Did you actually time your alarm clock correctly this time…?"

"Oh!" Cadin jumped up, before laughing, "That actually isn't a problem for me anymore! Not since I gained access to some special energy treats, made especially for us cicada yo-kai, from a fellow Next HarMEOWny fan–oh there he is!" Cadin turned and waved somebody else over. "Hey, Singcada! Over here!"

Nate looked interested as a yo-kai whom looked similar to Cadin stepped over, though larger with what looked like a bit of reddish-colored samurai armor on his body.

"Greetings, it is nice to see more fans for the glorious music of Next HarMEOWny!" the new yo-kai greeted in a sing-song voice.

**Charming Tribe: Singcada**

Before any of the others could greet him, Singcada immediately took notice of Nate and Jibanyan, with a wide-eyed look of surprise, "I say, I can hardly believe it! Is that you, two of my comrades from the great battle against the Wicked!?"

"… Huh?" Nate looked confused.

"Nya?" Jibanyan tilted his head.

"Confusion? I say, do you two not remember that day, 60 years ago!?" Singcada questioned with disbelief.

"60 years ago…?" Nate blinked, a look of realization coming to his face. "Wait… you're one of the yo-kai my grandpa summoned when fighting against Dame Deadtime!"

Jibanyan jumped up with shock, "Nya!? He really is!?"

"Your grandfather, do you mean young Nathaniel?" Singcada never dropped his sin-song way of speaking as he continued. "If so, then yes; I was summoned by him in that battle! Though I must say, I am surprised to see that you do not seemed to have aged very much!"

"I remember that fight," Shogunyan spoke before Nate or Jibanyan could clarify.

"I as well, it was strange to be summoned to the past!" Cadin nodded.

"We had to use a Miradox to get back…" Shogunyan stated thoughtfully.

"You as well, oh dear! I apologize for not recognizing you as my comrades from that battle as well!" Singcada sang, bowing to the two other yo-kai.

"It's nyo problem," Shogunyan shrugged. "That whole thing was kind of crazy…"

"And I am too grateful for the energy snacks you have provided me to care about such an oversight!" Cadin explained gleefully.

Singcada nodded, before turning back to Nate, "Still, whatever explanation for the time disparity between now and then, I have been waiting ever since that day you fought so bravely to gift you with my offer of friendship!" a glow came from the singing yo-kai's body, before a medal formed and flew into Nate's hand.

Nate looked at the medal with interest, allowing a smile that he had made a new yo-kai friend, "Well, I'm glad to– "

"HOLD ON!" Hailey suddenly shouted, jumping forward and drawing attention to her (even from some of the others waiting in line, whom had no idea what was going on between them…). "What's this about '60 years ago' and 'the battle against the Wicked!?' What are you keeping me out of the loop of!?"

Nate sighed as Hailey started to rant, knowing he wasn't going to be able to get out of giving her some sort of explanation…

* * *

Coincidentally, Nate explaining the event where he had to time travel and help his grandfather with the defeat of the Wicked, as well as ensuring the creation of the yo-kai watch, took about as much time as it did for the group to get into the theater, and get to their seats (which were all conveniently next to each other…)

"And that about covers that," Nate finished as he took his seat between Jibanyan and Hailey.

"Shh! It's starting!" Jibanyan snapped.

"Oh boy!" Hailey cheered, seemingly forgetting all that Nate had just explained to her.

Nate stared at the girl for a brief moment, before shrugging and taking his seat as the members of Next HarMEOWny took the stage.

"Hello everyone, I hope you're all excited for the debut of our new song at this special show!" the lead singer, Fiona, exclaimed eagerly as she stood center stage.

The audience cheered loudly in response, with Jibanyan and Hailey giving some of the loudest cheers, causing Nate to flinch.

"Good, because we have a big announcement before the show!" Fiona continued, smiling brightly as she looked over the crowd. "We're tired of being idols!"

The audience went silent…

"WHAT!?" Jibanyan and Hailey both froze with dead-eyed expressions.

"Yeah, I want to be a rock star!" Sakura expressed with a yawn.

"I'm tired of the music business entirely, I want to get into the cooking industry!" Aria announced.

"I want to be an astronaut!" Raina jumped up and down a few times.

The manager suddenly ran onto the stage in a panic, pushing all of the girls offstage and looking to the crowd with a nervous smile, "That was a joke, people! A JOKE! Don't go anywhere! The actual show will be starting soon!" after this, the manager ran off stage in the direction the girls had been pushed, clearly growing more panicked as he did.

The theater was bathed in silence, most of the audience looking unable to figure out how to respond to the sudden turn of events…

"Nyate," Jibanyan regained his focus, looking to the human boy with serious eyes. "This has to be the work of a yo-kai!"

Nate looked thoughtful, "Yeah, that was kind of weird… it doesn't make much sense for them to just throw their careers away on a whim, especially while on stage and right before a big show…"

"Yes, it doesn't make any sense, the members of Nyext HarMEOWny have more honor than that!" Shogunyan stated firmly.

"WHATEVER YO-KAI THAT WOULD CAUSE THIS IS THE WORST YO-KAI EVER!" Hailey raged, rising from her seat and stomping her foot on the ground.

Cadin and Singcada 'minged' in agreement.

"Nyate, we have to do something about this!" Jibanyan's tail-flames blazed as he stood in determination.

Nate seemed to ponder this for a moment, but nodded, "Yeah, like them or not, I don't want their careers ruined because of some yo-kai interference… luckily, I think I know a way we can get backstage with little issue…"

* * *

"Thanks for letting us back here, Pandanoko, we're pretty sure it's a yo-kai that's behind this sudden turn of attitude," Nate thanked the hopping, snake-like yo-kai, which was now leading the group through the backstage halls.

**Slippery Tribe: Pandanoko**

"I should be thanking you, Nate! This could be a disaster if nothing's done, with how many devoted fans are in the building, there could be a riot at any moment!" Pandanoko exclaimed with a fearful shudder.

"It's true, fans can be very scary; and I should know!" Hailey affirmed with a nod.

"Well, hearing that from _you_ doesn't make me feel very safe at all…" Nate muttered, looking away from the girl.

Jibanyan, Cadin, Shogunyan and Singcada said nothing, all of them too mesmerized by the fact that they were backstage in the Next HarMEOWny theater…

Pandanoko lead the group in the direction of the dressing rooms, where the members of Next HarMEOWny had apparently retreated, and as they approached the room that was designated as Fiona's, they quickly picked up on the tearful voice of a young girl.

"Please, stop making my sister and her friends say things they don't mean! They don't want to stop being a group and singing, why are you doing this!?"

Nate exchanged a strange look with Hailey as they approached the door, noting that it was cracked open. The two kids peeked through and spotted Fiona, sitting on a chair by a mirror, looking disinterested in anything that was going on around her.

However, who the voice had come from was a small girl, looking to be around six years old, with some resemblance to Fiona, whom was tearfully pleading with an unseen entity by the couch stationed in the room. "Please, just leave them alone! Please!"

Catching on to what was probably happening, Nate and Hailey both activated their yo-kai watches, shining the lights onto where the little girl was looking, which revealed a red-skinned, sort of dinosaur-headed yo-kai in a robe, with big, bushy eyebrows and a beard, sitting on the couch with a bored expression.

"Eh, I don't really feel like it, why do you care so much about convincing me, kid? Why don't you just quit?" the red yo-kai commented uncaringly, much to the little girl's continued distress.

"Who is that guy…? He looks kind of like N'more, but… worse," Nate questioned quietly, exchanging a confused look with Hailey as they pulled back.

"I knew I should have made Usapyon come, his yo-kai pad would come in handy right now," Hailey commented with a sigh.

"Luckily, I swiped Whisper's yo-kai pad!" Jibanyan suddenly announced, holding the device up with a serious expression. "I knyew something like this could happen, so I had to come prepared!"

Hailey cheered, "Alright, kitty-cat!"

Nate rose a brow, "Does Whisper know you took that? You know how important to him it is!"

"I've been careful with it! And I made sure he wouldn't even knyow it's gone!" Jibanyan shouted wildly.

* * *

"Uhh…" Whisper floated in the living room, staring blankly at his 'yo-kai pad,' which appeared to be a piece of cardboard that had been crudely drawn on with crayons to appear as a yo-kai pad…

"Looks normal to me," Toiletta commented from the couch, chuckling a bit to herself.

"Hanako, who are you talking to?" Lily questioned from the kitchen.

Toiletta paused with a blank expression, "Uhh…"

* * *

"If you say so…" Nate didn't look so sure, shaking his head as the cat yo-kai searched through the yo-kai wiki.

"Whatever the method used; we just need to figure out how to deal with this before Next HarMEOWny is broken for good!" Pandanoko shouted in a panicked tone, hopping around the group. "WE ALL COULD DIE FROM THE OUTRAGE OF SCORNED FANS!"

"I'm too young to die again!" Cadin jumped up and into Singcada's arms with a fearful look.

"Too soon for reincarnation!" Singcada sang, dropping the other cicada yo-kai.

"Omph!" Cadin grunted as he hit the floor.

"Quiet! I found it!" Jibanyan snapped, holding up the yo-kai pad, which displayed a picture of the offending yo-kai. "His name is Q'wit!"

**Mysterious Tribe: Q'wit**

"This yo-kai makes you get tired of anything you try quickly and switch to something nyew on a whim! He's going to ruin Nyext HarMEOWny's reputation and make them be seen as fickle and nyot serious about anything! We have to STOP HIM!"

Nate winced from the volume of the cat yo-kai's voice, "Alright, we'll stop him Jibanyan, don't worry!"

"Yeah, we can't stand by and allow this weird dino-head to throw the glorious girls of Next HarMEOWny down the fleeting paths of uncertainty!" Hailey exclaimed fiercely. "Especially when I haven't even become a member yet!"

"Keep dreaming," Jibanyan's voice turned dull as he glared at Hailey.

"I will!" Hailey responded with no change to her tone or stance.

Nate rolled his eyes at how the two were still arguing about that, before focusing on the room again, focusing on the little girl that was trying to reason with Q'wit, "That kid… can she see the yo-kai…?"

Jibanyan turned his attention back to Nate, his tails swaying a bit, "Oh, yeah! That's Fionya's sister! Fionya's family can see yo-kai, it's hereditary… or something…" the cat yo-kai shrugged unsurely.

Hailey's eyes lit up at this knowledge, "Wow! I knew Fiona was an amazing singer, but I had no idea she had a real _superpower_! You think she could be a secret superhero, like the Sailor Cuties!?"

"Yeah, I don't think so…" Nate muttered, turning away from the gushing Hailey with a sweatdrop.

"Please, put a stop to this, I'm counting on you guys!" Pandanoko reminded the group of the situation's urgency, hopping a few times.

Nate nodded to Pandanoko, grasping his watch with a determined expression.

Hailey nodded to the boy, all the yo-kai exchanging serious looks, before following Nate as he opened the door.

"Huh?" the small girl blinked through her tears, looking away from the stubborn yo-kai and to the group that entered the room.

"Meh, come in, or like, whatever," Fiona barely regarded the group in a disinterested tone.

"Fionya…" Jibanyan looked heartbroken at the state of his beloved idol. He narrowed his eyes, "I won't let you stay this way!"

"Mr. Kitty?" Fiona's sister spoke in recognition as she looked at Jibanyan, before noticing Nate and Hailey, "Who are those people…?"

"Who cares?" Fiona shrugged. "I need to focus on how I'm gonna become an acrobat!"

"How bothersome…" Q'wit yawned, hitting his head with his drumstick, causing some purple smog to rise from him and float over to Fiona.

"… On second thought, acrobatics sound boring! I'm gonna be a scientist!" the Next HarMEOWny member exclaimed, jumping up from her seat.

The little girl let out a cry of desperation and sadness, "Sis!"

Nate narrowed his eyes as he saw the Fiona's sister crying, before stepping forward, "Don't worry, we're going to put a stop to this!"

"Huh…?" the small child looked confused when Nate placed a comforting hand on her head, looking up at him with tearful eyes.

"Nate's going to be cool…" Hailey muttered with a slightly red face.

Jibanyan gave Hailey an odd look, but quickly shrugged it off as he also charged into the room.

"We're not going to let this guy ruin your sister and her friends' careers!" Nate assured the smaller child.

"You can trust Nyate to keep his word, that much I knyow!" Jibanyan affirmed as he came to a stop next to Fiona's little sister, giving her a thumbs-up.

Fiona's sister nodded in silence as she looked between Nate and Jibanyan unsurely.

Nate gave the red-skinned yo-kai a serious look as he walked up to the couch he sat on, "Alright Q'wit, it's time for you to knock this off! Stop inspiriting the members of Next HarMEOWny!"

"Eh, maybe…" the yo-kai seemed to consider it, but yawning, "Nah, maybe later."

At the voice of denial, fire came to Jibanyan's eyes as he took on a fighting stance, "Why you… if you won't knyock it off by choice, I'll make you!"

"Mr. Kitty…?" Fiona's sister took a step back, nervous from the cat yo-kai's intensity.

Jibanyan jumped towards Q'wit, "Take this! Paws of Fu– "

"Eh, why bother?" Q'wit yawned, hitting his head with a drumstick and sending purple smoke onto the attacking nekomata.

Jibanyan froze in mid-air as soon as the smoke hit him, before he fell to the ground and shrug, "Nya, I don't really feel like battling anymore. I wanna be a firefighter!"

"Oh no! Mr. Kitty!" Fiona's sister cried out with distress.

"This yo-kai is a truly heinous foe…" Hailey muttered, having snapped out of her dazed state, before she pulled up her watch. "I know, I'll summon Usapyon!"

"We will move forward to attack as well!" Cadin announced, standing fiercely with Singcada and Shogunyan.

"No!" Nate called out, holding up a hand for the others to stop, "Anyone else charging in will probably just have the same thing happen again! We need a way around Q'wit's inspiritment!"

"Oh, right…" Hailey's wrist fell as she realized the truth of this matter.

"But we must do something," Shogunyan insisted, still looking ready to attack.

"Mr. Nyate, please help! I don't know what to do, now Mr. Kitty is like my sister!" Fiona's little sister whimpered as she looked at the boy with desperation in her eyes.

Nate flinched at the crying girl's tone, before doing his best to give a comforting smile, "It's Nate, and don't worry; we'll find a way to stop him…"

Fiona's sister sniffled, nodding her head.

Pandanoko hopped up, speaking up after having remained silent for what felt like an agonizingly long time, "Nate, you should purify Jibanyan of the inspiritment so he can get back to getting rid of Q'wit!"

Nate blinked, giving the panda-patterned-snake an odd look, "Purify…?"

Hailey also looked confused as she turned her attention to the Slippery yo-kai.

Pandanoko paused, looking between the two yo-kai watch users with mild surprise, "Wait… do you two not know about the yo-kai watch's purify function…?"

Nate and Hailey's only response were a couple of blank looks.

"What's a 'purify' function…?" Cadin questioned after a moment, alerting the snake yo-kai to his ignorance on the matter as well.

Pandanoko sweatdropped as he looked around at the group; Singcada and Shogunyan's averted eyes alerting him that, they too, did not know about the function… "Alright, well… I'll walk you through it, I suppose." shaking his head a bit, the rare tsuchinoko put his focus on Nate, "Alright, first; put Jibanyan's medal back into the watch!"

Following Pandanoko's directions, Nate inserted his cat companion's medal back into the yo-kai watch, and to his surprise, it turned purple, "Huh… what now?" he looked at the snake yo-kai questioningly.

"There should be some indication of an action you need to preform; do you notice anything?" Pandanoko explained carefully.

Nate looked back at his watch, before he noticed how there were two flashing arrows around the corners of Jibanyan's medal, looking to be directing him to spin it. Placing a finger onto the medal, Nate spun it, after a bit of doing this the medal started spinning faster and faster on its own as he pulled his finger away, before a puff of purple smoke emitted from the medal, and it changed back to normal color. "Wow!"

"Nya!" Jibanyan suddenly hissed, getting back up and glaring at Q'wit, "I'm gonnya make you pay!"

"Wow! It really worked, Jibanyan's not inspirited anymore!" Hailey gave an impressed cheer, clapping her hands. "Good going, Nate!"

Pandanoko gave the purple-haired girl a dull look, "Oh yeah, no praise for me _telling_ him about it, of course…"

Nate looked at the watch blankly after it spat Jibanyan's medal back into his hand, "Has… the yo-kai watch always been able to do that?"

Pandanoko got rid of his dull expression as he turned back to the boy, surprise appearing on his visage one more, "Yeah, I found out about it a bit ago; you really didn't know the watch could do that? It's been a feature of all yo-kai watch's, to my knowledge, to be able to purify enemy inspiritments out of yo-kai the user has the medals of."

Nate stared at the yo-kai watch for a few more seconds, the urge to hit a _certain_ yo-kai butler welling up inside him…

* * *

Back at the Adams house, Whisper dropped the cardboard yo-kai pad he had been looking over, a shiver suddenly running down his nonexistent spine…

* * *

Putting all violent thoughts aside for the time being, Nate turned his focus back to the situation at hand, "Alright, well; I'll handle any purification then, and everyone charge!"

Shogunyan, Cadin and Singcada all gave battle cries as they moved forward to join Jibanyan in staring the enemy down.

Q'wit gulped as he noticed the odds he was up against, "Eh… why not just quit…?" he banged on his head to activate his inspiritment, sending it after Cadin.

"Not so fast!" Nate called out, placing Cadin's medal in his watch and purifying him almost the moment he fell to the inspiritment.

"Wow…" Fiona's sister had a mesmerized expression as she stared at Nate, a bit of pink coming to her cheeks. "He's so cool…"

"I'm gonnya make you pay for almost bringing an end to Nyext HarMEOWny!" Jibanyan growled, preparing to unleash his Soultimate once more.

Q'wit started to sweat as he considered his options, '_I could inspirit the kid… but I wouldn't have enough time before I'm torn to shreds, and… this isn't worth it!_' having made up his mind, Q'wit held up his drumstick in a motion for the attacking yo-kai to stop. "I QUIT! I'LL LEAVE!" and without another word, the red yo-kai jumped through a wall, fading from view.

"Hey, pal! You're supposed to leave your medal when you've been bested! Don't you know the rules!?" Hailey called out in outrage to the no-longer-present Q'wit. Giving a huff, the purple-haired girl crossed her arms, "He couldn't even manage to be decent in defeat, truly a despicable yo-kai…"

Nate sweatdropped at Hailey's words, before giving a relieved sigh over the fact the troublesome yo-kai was gone.

"Wait, what… was I doing…?" Fiona questioned with a blink, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Big sis!" the little girl exclaimed in joy, running over to her big sister and hugging her.

"Huh, Bonnie?" Fiona spoke in confusion, revealing the name of the small girl. "What happened?" looking around at the other occupants of the room, a look of realization seemed to set in as her memories started to clear up, "Oh… dear, that was a rather bothersome yo-kai, wasn't it…?" turning her focus to Jibanyan, the teen girl gave a thankful smile. "And I suppose some of my gratitude should go to you, my feline friend."

"Fionya, you're back to nyormal," Jibanyan's eyes turned to hearts as he stared up at the singer. "It was nyo problem, I'd do anything for you!"

Nate rolled his eyes at Jibanyan's devotion, but gave a bit of a smile, before he noticed a tugging at his pantleg. The boy looked down to see Bonnie, staring at him shyly, Nate gave a gentle smile and kneeled, "Oh, hey." Nate's smile widened as he looked at the girl, "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. And if you ever have any yo-kai problems in the future, don't be afraid to call me and 'Mr. Kitty' to come help you out!"

Bonnie silently stared at Nate for a few moments, the redness of her face brightening, before she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek.

"Ga-huh!?" Nate nearly jumped back in surprise from the unexpected action.

Bonnie smiled lovingly as she kept looking at Nate, her eyes sparkling, "You saved my sister, my prince! I love you!" hugging Nate's leg as he stood back up, Bonnie let out a dreamy sigh, "I wanna marry you, Prince Nate!"

"Wait, what!?" Nate gawked at the small girl's infatuation.

"Hmm…" Hailey's glasses gleamed as she observed the little girl.

"And anyother one falls to the harem…" Jibanyan muttered to himself as he took notice of the event, nervously glancing towards Fiona, hoping she wouldn't be too upset…

"Aw, that's so cute!" Fiona gushed in response to her little sister's new crush. "I won't be mad if you and my sister get married in fourteen years or so, Nate!"

"WHAT!?" Nate and Jibanyan both gaped at the idol's acceptance, even if it seemed she wasn't entirely serious.

"Yeah, we're gonna get married and live happily ever after!" Bonnie cheered, nuzzling Nate's leg.

"Now hold on a minute!" Nate tried to speak up in protest, but quickly went silent, unsure of what he could say that wouldn't make the little girl cry…

"This… is an unyexpected development," Shogunyan commented while scratching his helmet.

"I don't recall Nathan so easily gaining the affection of the ladies," Cadin commented with a quizzical look.

"_Oh_, you'd be surprised, a _lot_ of girls seem to have fallen for our young Nathan's charms," Hailey chuckled mischievously as she glanced down at the cicada yo-kai. '_And not even Nate realizes that I am one of those girls…_' adjusting her glasses a bit, the secret member of Nate's 'harem' turned her focus back to the newest member, _'She's probably not a threat I need to worry about… although, I shouldn't rule out the possibility of magical age-up, time traveling future-selves, or possible other means that she could become a threat in the future!_'

Ignorant of Hailey's strange thought process, Nate just let out a defeated sigh at the words referencing his 'harem…'

"Nyate…" Jibanyan spoke up, a dangerous gleam in his eye as he stiffly turned his head to look at the human boy.

Blinking, Jibanyan nervously glanced down at the infatuated Bonnie, her giggling sister, and back to Jibanyan, and the realization that Amy wasn't here to restrain any violent action made against him settled in, "Um… now Jibanyan, you know I'm not doing this on purpose! Please… just think for a minute before you– "

"MARRY FIONYA'S SISTER!" the cat yo-kai shouted before the boy was even finished talking, leaping onto his head and latching onto it. "MARRY HER! SAY YOU'LL MARRY HER!"

"WHAT!?" Nate struggled with both the nekomata latched onto his head, and a little girl clinging to his leg. "What are you talking about, Jibanyan!?"

"Yeah, Mr. Kitty thinks we should get married too! It's like a fairy tale ending, Prince Nate!" Bonnie cheered, still holding onto the boy's leg.

"B-Bonnie, I'm not a prince," Nate spoke carefully, before turning his focus to the cat on his head, speaking quietly, "And she's way too young for me…"

"It won't matter in fourteen years! AGREE TO MARRY HER!" Jibanyan pulled at Nate's hair as he shouted.

"OW! Stop it!" Nate cried out in protest.

"I love you Prince Nate!" Bonnie cheered, oblivious to the struggle her 'prince' was having.

"Aw, this is just adorable," Fiona chuckled as she continued to watch.

"Fiona!" the other members of Next HarMEOWny shouted frantically as the ran into the room.

"Fiona, we don't know what came over us! We don't want to stop singing and dancing together!" Sakura exclaimed regretfully.

"You feel the same, don't you!?" Aria questioned with worry.

Fiona smiled at her friends, "Of course I don't want to quit! Next HarMEOWny is my life!" giving a wide smile to her bandmates, she put her hands to her hips, "Now come on! We've left the audience waiting for a show long enough!"

The other members of Next HarMEOWny all smiled brightly, before giving out cheers of approval.

"Say, who are the kids?" Sakura questioned before they left to room, referring to Nate and Hailey.

"Oh, just some friends of friends," Fiona smiled gratefully, "They offered some help… we can talk about it after the show!"

As the group of girls left, Hailey looked on with a mesmerized look, reaching out slowly as if she wanted to call out to them before they departed, but finding herself unable to do so, "No… I'm not ready to join them yet…"

Jibanyan seemed to momentarily forget his quest to get Nate to agree to Bonnie's marriage proposal, jumping down, "The show's going to start any minyute! We nyeed to move back to our seats!"

Shogunyan, Cadin, Singcada and Hailey all loudly voice their agreement to this, preparing to make a run for it.

"Now, there's no need for that," Pandanoko jumped in the doorway before the majority of the group could come out. "I think you're deserving of something a bit… better than a seat in the crowd, after your help…" the smile came to the snake yo-kai's face as he said this…

* * *

"YAHOO, THIS IS THE GREATEST!" Hailey shouted in join as the group stood backstage, watching Next HarMEOWny's performance.

"SHH!" the yo-kai glared at the purple-haired girl.

"Sorry," Hailey gave an awkward chuckle, before they all focused back on the singing and dancing.

"I gotta hand it to you, Nyate; I thought you would ruin this for me, but it's turned out way better than I could've predicted!" Jibanyan praised the human boy, focusing on the idol group, his eyes in the form of large hearts.

"Thanks… I guess," Nate muttered, sending a concern look down to Bonnie, whom was still clinging to his side and staring at him lovingly.

"I love you, my prince!" Bonnie cooed lovingly.

Nate gave a sigh of defeat, patting the small girl on the head, turning his focus back to the show…

* * *

Another chapter done; this one dragged on a lot longer than I thought it would…

Fiona's sister has no canonical name, so I named her Bonnie.

If anyone's concerned about how long it took for this update to come out; that's partially due to the length, but also the nature of this story means it often will not have consistent updates. Even if the story hasn't been updated for a year, if it doesn't say it's cancelled, it's not cancelled.

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' As the troubles of his 'harem' pile up, Nate finds an unexpected offer of help from a certain fox yo-kai, however, when the yo-kai's attempts to charm the various girls' attentions away from Nate fall flat, our young 'Harem Protagonist' will quickly find that he may have been better off on his own…

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **How is this 'Help!?'**


	9. How is this Help?

**Chapter 9: How is this 'Help!?'**

* * *

_The sun shined high in the sky over Mt. Wildwood's shrine, two children were basking in the sun in the grass nearby; one human, the other a yo-kai._

"_Nate, what do you want to be when you grow up…?" Kirene questioned innocently, glancing over at her human friend._

_Nate blinked, glancing over at his cat-like companion, humming thoughtfully, "I don't think I ever really thought about that before…"_

"_Yeah, that sounds like you," Kirene giggled a bit._

_Nate blinked again, his narrowing slightly as he sat up, "What's that supposed to mean?"_

_The female yo-kai sat up as well, smirking at her friend, "You don't really think ahead too much; like when you saved me! You didn't really think that one through, did you?"_

_Nate's expression changed to one of confusion, "I did think that through, Kirene; I thought about how I didn't want you to get hurt, 'cause you're my friend, and I love you!"_

_Kirene's smirk faded at that remark, her expression turning to a slightly stunned one, her cheeks reddening, "W-What!?" the girl quickly turns away from the boy before he noticed her blushing, covering her face for good measure, "D-Don't go saying something like that so causally, you d-dummy!"_

"_What, why? It's true," Nate innocently insisted, not understanding why his friend seemed to have suddenly gotten upset, "Kirene? What's the matter…?" the young boy moved closer to the yo-kai, peeking over her shoulder._

_Kirene tried her best not to look at the boy, her blush deepening. The feline girl let out a small 'hmph' as she crossed her arms._

"_Kirene, come on, what did I say?" Nate questioned desperately as he moved around to try and get his friend to look at him, but Kirene turned away every time, refusing to speak. "Kirene!"_

_The cat-like girl spared a glance the human boy's way, noticing how tears were starting to form in his eyes. Abandoning any signs of her previous embarrassment, she quickly turned to face him, waving her arms frantically, "Hold on Nate, it's nothing, okay! Don't cry! I love you too!" as soon as the words left her mouth, the yo-kai girl let out a gasp, covering her mouth as her blush returned in full force._

_Nate wiped his eyes of tears, sniffling a bit, "R-Really, you do…?"_

_Kirene seemed unsure of what to say at that point, lowering her hands from her mouth and glancing to the ground, a luminescent blush now clearly visible on her face, "I, well… yeah… Nate, there's… actually something I've been meaning to ask you…"_

"_Ask me?" the human tilted his head, looking a bit concerned towards his friend's shifting demeanor._

_Kirene gulped, tapping her index fingers together anxiously, "Well, I've been thinking, and maybe, do you think… when we're both grown up, could– "_

* * *

The sound of Kirene's voice faded as Nate's eyes drifted open, finding himself staring up at his bedroom ceiling, sighing to himself, '_Another one of those dreams… why…?_' shaking his head, the boy pulled himself into a sitting position, stretching his arms while yawning, '_Well, at least this one was nicer…_'

As the human's lucidity began to return, he took note of… what sounded like a soft, female voice, happily sighing… and how something was on his stomach. Glancing down, Nate's eyes widened as he took in the sight of a small, familiar, girl, that had her arms wrapped around his stomach, while she happily slumbered with her head snuggled into his side.

"Ah… sweetie, is it morning…?" the little blue-haired girl questioned drowsily, letting out a cute yawn as she snuggled closer to the boy.

"Blizzaria, I-I mean, Frostina!?" Nate yelped as his face paled, recognizing the alternative form of the yuki-onna.

**Charming Tribe: Frostina**

Frostina let out another yawn as her blue-eyed fluttered open, giving the boy a loving small as she hugged him tighter, "Something wrong, _sweetie_…?"

Nate's mouth hung open and his face burned, "W-What are you doing HERE!?" he hadn't intended to shout, but he couldn't hold back his shock and confusion at finding the yo-kai hugging him in his bed.

Frostina tilted her head as she stared up at the boy's face with a dreamy expression, "What do you mean, dear? Do you not recognize me in this state?" she giggled a bit, floating up from the bed and grabbing a familiar hairclip off the boy's nightstand, placing it in her hair.

Nate covered his eyes as a flash filled his visage, before it died down and Frostina was gone, and Blizzaria was floating in front of him with a wide smile.

"Recognize me now, _darling_?" Blizzaria cooed, drifting back onto the bed and clinging to her crush's arm.

Nate sighed, attempting to pull his arm free from the snow woman's grip, but finding himself unable to. "I knew it was you, Blizzaria. I've seen you like that before, remember?"

"Hm… not really, my short-term memories from when I was last Frostina are always kind of fuzzy when I put my Glacial Clip back on," Blizzaria shrugged with her shoulder's, making sure to keep a strong grip on Nate's arm as she nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

"So, I suppose you couldn't tell me how you ended up in my bed as Frostina…" Nate muttered sarcastically, his eyes drifting around the room, spotting a pink nekomata slumbering on the floor, "Or how Sailornyan got knocked off the bed?"

"Nope, sorry," Blizzaria gave an innocent giggle, pulling herself closer to the boy and planting a chilly kiss on his cheek.

Nate shivered from the sudden cold contact, his face instantly warming up again as it turned bright red, "Blizzaria, could you please– "

"Nate, everything okay?" Toiletta's voice sounded as she opened the door and stepped into the room, "I heard you screeeEEEAAAM!?" the humanoid yo-kai's voice devolved into a bloodcurdling scream as she was met with the sight of Nate sitting in his bed, being cuddled affectionately by a yuki-onna.

"Um… this isn't what it looks like…?" Nate offered nervously, feeling that this wasn't going to end well for him.

"Hey, don't interrupt us, at least knock before you enter someone else's room!" Blizzaria scowled, clinging closely to the floundering boy, "My _boyfriend_ and I were just in the middle of morning cuddles!"

Nate nearly jumped out of his bed in shock at Blizzaria's declaration, "B-BOYFRIEND!?" he barely could voice a protest, before he noticed the increase of a _dark aura_ emitting from his bedroom door. Nervously, Nate turned back to the other girl, "T-Toiletta…?"

Toiletta's eyes seemed to glow red before she lunged towards the boy with murderous intent…

* * *

Birds scattered from the area around the Adams home, as a loud '_**SLAP!**_' echoed through the air

* * *

"Ow…" Nate muttered painfully on his walk to school, holding a hand to his right cheek, where a red handprint was visible. Looking ahead at Toiletta, who was keeping a good distance from the boy as she headed towards the school, refusing to look at him, Nate spoke, "That was uncalled for, 'Hanako…'"

Toiletta gave no response to the boy's complaint, turning her nose up with a 'hmph' as she kept walking.

Nate sighed, his head lowering, wincing slightly as he kept his hand to his cheek, "I don't understand what her problem is…"

"And that is just one of your problems, Nathan; your inability to understand the emotions of the various ladies in your life," Whisper made his presence known, floating up from behind the boy and to his side.

Nate's eye twitched slightly as he glared at his butler, speaking quietly to avoid Toiletta hearing, "I _understand_ that she has a crush on me, Whisper–as much as I wish it weren't true–and I get why she might have been upset… but I _don't_ understand why she hit _me_." The boy winced again as his cheek throbbed.

Whisper shrugged, "She probably felt you deserved it; you did allow Blizzaria–or rather, Frostina–to sleep in your bed and snuggle with you."

Nate held back a snarl, unintentionally raising his voice, "I didn't _allow_ anything, Frostina invited herself!"

Toiletta stopped in her pace, glancing over her shoulder.

Nate froze up when he noticed the female yo-kai looking at him, and the _chilling_ look in her eyes…

Whisper halted in any attempt of responding to Nate, shivering at Toiletta's look, and hiding behind his master.

After a few moments of dead silence, Toiletta let out a disgusted huff, turning her head forward again, and continuing the march to school.

Nate and Whisper both let out relieved sighs, their bodies drooping a bit as the tension around them evaporated.

Shaking his head, Nate looked to his butler with a defeated expression, "Look, let's not talk about this right now. I just want to get to school _alive_…"

Whisper simply nodded, his face still showing a slight amount of fear as he glanced towards Toiletta.

* * *

Having made it to the school and his classroom in one piece, Nate didn't question why Toiletta still refused to speak to him as she went straight to her seat.

With some time before class started, he decided that the best thing to get his mind off the current tension was to go speak to his friends.

"Hey, Nate, what's up?" Bear questioned as the brunette boy approached him, Eddie, and Katie.

"Nothing really, I guess," Nate sighed to himself.

"What's with your face…?" Eddie asked carefully.

"This… I don't really want to talk about it," Nate flinched.

Eddie and Bear exchanged a strange look.

"That looks like a handprint, did somebody slap you, Nate?" Katie questioned, looking at her friend with concern in her eyes.

"It's no big deal… again, I don't want to talk about it…" Nate sighed, his eyes drifted towards Toiletta's seat, giving a small sigh.

Katie crossed her arms, but decided not to inquire on this matter further, instead opting to talk about something else she had been meaning to, "So, has anyone noticed something… odd?"

"What do you mean by that?" Bear gave the girl a strange look.

"Well, don't you think things have been a bit… _weird_ lately?" Katie's question was met with dull looks from her friends. The brunette girl gave an awkward cough, "I mean; besides the whole 'Nate has a harem' thing!"

"I don't want to talk about that either…" Nate muttered in a miserable tone.

Sarah and Alex had been walking over, looking like they were about to move over to Nate, but having caught his words and tone, seemed to think better of it at the last moment.

"Hi guys," Alex gave an awkward smile as she and Sarah waved.

"What'cha talking about?" Sarah glanced towards Katie, trying not to blatantly stare in Nate's direction.

Katie sighed, "I'm talking about how something weird is going on with our class–and no, not the 'Nate harem' thing, _I_ don't want to talk about that either, by the way–but there is definitely something else going on here! Hasn't anyone else noticed?"

"What exactly do you mean by that, Katie?" Eddie gave a quizzical look.

"Well, first; there's Hanako," Katie started, gesturing to the currently residing in her own seat, trying not to look in the group's direction.

Nate gave a nervous gulp.

"Her being kind of creepy aside, there's the fact that I saw her _fly out a closed window_," Katie would have been yelling if she wasn't making a conscious effort to keep her voice down.

Eddie rolled his eyes, "Oh come on Katie, not this again."

"Yeah, Hanako may be a creepy, but she's not some supernatural ghost or something," Bear shrugged.

Nate just gave a small cough, turning his focus towards the ceiling, some sweat starting to form on his brow.

Katie huffed at the dismissal, "I _saw_ it. I don't know how she did it, but it happened."

"I don't know Katie, I think the most suspicious thing about Hanako is that she_ lives_ with Nate," Sarah muttered, casting an annoyed side glare in said student's direction.

"Totally. Not. Fair," Alex grunted quietly, her expression mirroring Sarah's.

Seeing a complete lack of support, as well as being reminded her female friends' crushes on Nate, Katie just gave a frustrated look, before deciding to change topics, "Alright, what about Fubuki? Doesn't anyone else think there's something strange about her?"

"What do you mean?" Bear questioned cluelessly.

As if in response to Bear's question, Fubuki marched into the classroom at that moment, an arrogant smile on her face, and an instant later Andy, Daniel and Mark were at her side.

"Oh, lovely Fubuki Himekawa, what do you desire!?" Andy questioned with an urgent expression, his friends nodding with lovestruck expressions.

"We live to serve you," Mark gave a bow.

Fubuki rolled her eyes, turning her nose up and marching passed the trio of boys without a second glance, only pausing in her stride to send a wink and smile Nate's way, before continuing to her seat.

"Alright, what did we do wrong there?" Andy questioned his two friends.

"All that really proves is that most of the boys in our class are stupid," Sarah muttered with a disapproving expression.

"Wasn't she acting nicer before…?" Alex scratched her head while eyeing the blue-haired transfer student.

"Most of the boys fawning over her probably gave her a big head," Sarah concluded with a disgusted sigh.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, Fubuki's as cute as ever…" Bear muttered with a lovestruck look.

Eddie shook his head in disappointment of his friend.

"Case in point," Sarah stated plainly.

Katie loudly groaned.

While Katie continued to try in convincing her friends of something strange going on, Fubuki finished making her way to her seat and sat down, giving a satisfied smirk as she glanced over at the irritated Hanako, '_Seems little Miss. Toilet-Ghost is still ticked off about this morning… good, if I'm lucky, maybe she'll drive Nate away from her completely to the point he asks her to leave his house,_' the disguised snow-women's smirk widened into a sinister one, chuckling to herself.

Lina and Zoey both approached Toiletta's seat, giving the ghost girl identical smirks, "Hey Hanako, what's got you so upset?" the two asked in unison.

"I don't want to talk about it," the short girl grunted, putting her face down onto her desk, subtly glaring in Nate's direction, a dark aura emitting from her.

Both Lina and Zoey looked confused by their friend's demeanor, though further questioning would have to wait, as Mr. Johnson came into the room, inciting all the students to move to their seats and quiet down.

"Good morning class, now; I know this is odd, but today we have some more transfer students to introduce," their teacher announced with a slightly shaken smile, as he internally questioned what the _heck _was going on with the schoolboard.

The students were a bit more visible with their reactions to this news, with some even whispering to each other.

'_More transfer students...? What's going on?_' Katie mentally questioned, unable to shake her thoughts that something _very weird_ was happening just under her nose…

'_Oh great, what now…_' Nate tried to hold back his groan as he put his face into his hands. '_Please don't be more girls. Please don't be more girls. PLEASE DON'T BE MORE GIRLS!_'

'_Huh…?_' Hanako's head rose a bit, though she tried to hide any interest she felt.

"Okay, you can come in now," Mr. Johnson encouraged towards the doorway, before the new students stepped into the classroom.

At the sight of the four girls whom entered Nate, 'Hanako,' and Fubuki all stared with wide eyes and varying emotions; Nate's being what seemed to be defeat and dread, while the two girls had mixtures of annoyance and anger, with 'Hanako' leaning more towards annoyance, and Fubuki anger…

'_Oh, you have got to be KIDDING ME!_' both Hanako and Fubuki thought in near unison as they took in the forms of the new girls.

Nate took a moment longer to realize, but when he did his dread turned to disbelief, which then quickly faded to fatigue, '_Of course, why __**wouldn't**__ they do this!?_'

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something familiar about those girls…" Whisper commented, a moment too late.

Nate gave his butler a blank look.

"Hey there! I'm Natalie Kuchidake!" a somewhat short girl with dark skin grinned widely, her medium length brown-hair covering her eyes from view. "You may not have heard of me, but I happen to have been the top student at my previous school, as well as the most popular girl in class, and class president, not to mention my charity work and– "

"Alright, that's enough out of you!" two near identical girls shouted, knocking Natalie out of her speech, before they turned their attention to the class. Both were slightly taller than what would be expected from girls in their age group, their small mouths smiling cutely while their large eyes fluttered, revealing that both were wearing eyeshadow, and their hair was done up in horn-like designs. The only difference between the two girls were their coloration; with the right having tan skin, red eyes, silver hair and blue clothing, while the left had pale skin, green eyes, red hair and was dressed in purple.

Out of the new students, the twins seemed to captivate most of the boys in class; something that clearly irritated Fubuki, who was pouting in her seat while she glared at the newcomers.

"Should you go first, or should I?" the tan twin questioned her sister, ignoring as Natalie sulked over being interrupted.

"Oh, you go first, sister!" the pale twin offered cheerfully.

"Alright, if you say so!" the silver-haired girl shared a giggle with her red-haired sister, before she turned her attention back to the class, "Hello there everyone, my name is Nina Fuumin! I'm just a simple gal who likes nothing more than a good slumber party with friends, I hope we all get along," her bowing signified the end of her speaking.

"And, I am Nina's twin sister; Sandi Fuumin!" the pale twin smiled at her sister, who smiled back. "I'm not quite as into slumber parties as my sister, I'd prefer to get a good night's sleep, but I'm all for having a good time with lots of friends; which I hope you all are soon enough!" she bowed in an identical manner to her sister.

"First an angel like Fubuki, now a pair of beautiful twin sisters. What deity did we please to have such luck with transfer students?" Bear voice what many of the boys in class were thinking, a dazed expression on his face.

Nate and Eddie both glanced back at their friend with disappointed sighs, while Lulu and Meg both gave the large boy glares of disgust and Shelly averted her eyes.

Hanako remained silent, but was glaring at the new students with an increasingly dark aura, which set Mark on edge as he tried to subtly scoot his desk further from hers…

Fubuki, for her part, remained composed; giving the new girls several critical looks, but not showing any emotions aside from a small smile that seemed to hold an air of elegancy. Though, if one were to observe the blue-haired girl closely, they might be able to take note of the slight twitching motion she made with her right hand every couple seconds.

"Alright, is it finally my turn to talk?" the final and shortest of the new girls huffed, looking a bit annoyed with how the twins seemed to have grabbed all the attention from the class. She was only about half the height of the twins. Her head was somewhat larger than average, and covered in short blond hair, with hairclips that created what resembled floppy dog ears on each side of her head, she had light peach skin, large oval shaped black eyes, and she was dressed in orange.

Many of the boys in class seemed to almost instantly snap out of their dazed states.

"Oh, right… we're not _that _lucky with transfer students," Bear sighed, glancing between the two shorter new girls, and subtly glancing back at Hanako…

Noting that the class' attention had turned to her, the last girl formed a smile shaped like a sideways number three under her button nose, before she spoke up in a deliberately 'mysterious' tone of voice, "Hello all, my name is Satori Esper, and I will warn you now; it's best not to cross me," Satori gave a dark chuckle as she put a hand to her mouth, "For you see; I am no mere little girl, I come from a family of powerful psychics, and I can very well _read your mind_!"

The reactions to this declaration were varied; most of the students seemed to scoff at the idea of the girl being a mind reader, though Nate visibly lowered his head, Fubuki and Hanako kept firm in their stances, and Katie had a bit of a twitch.

'_Wait… why does she seem so familiar… mindreading…?_' Katie thought to herself with a blank expression, still unable to shake that itch that there was just something very strange going on, and it was really starting to bother her…

"Mindreading, that's ridiculous," Eddie was the first to voice his disbelief, shaking his head as he stood up from his seat, "While the idea of psychic abilities isn't completely implausible by scientific means; it's still completely theoretical, and the idea that a student of our age group could have access to it with such ease is absurd."

Satori's body twitched a tiny bit, before she stiffly turned her head in Eddie's direction, her smile unchanging, "Oh; do we have a non-believer now…? Perhaps I should… make a show of my abilities," the blond girl chuckled evilly as a strange aura seemed to surround her, her hair starting to rise up as if to defy gravity.

Eddie, for his part, managed to remain calm, but couldn't help his eyes widening in response to what was happening before his very eyes, '_N-No way, she can't actually… what is that? Still, whatever she's doing, it doesn't–_ '

"Prove that I can read minds?" Satori smirked as she spoke Eddie's own thought aloud.

Eddie's expression turned to shock and disbelief, staring at the short girl with even wider eyes, unable to come up to a response to the evidence of this girl's capabilities.

'_She's really doing this…? Not even trying to hide her abilities?_' Nate thought to himself with a groan, putting his hands over his head, before he noticed Satori glancing in his direction, '_Stay out of my head, Espy!_'

'Satori's' eyes widened in surprise as she reeled back slightly.

"Erm, Miss. Esper, that isn't really an… _appropriate _way of introducing yourself," Mr. Johnson spoke unsurely as he looked down at the short girl.

The supposedly-psychic girl quickly shook herself out of the stupor Nate's unexpected thoughts had put her in, her eyes gleaming as she looked up at the teacher, "Hmm, it is not? Than… what would you have me say…" narrowing her eyes, a smile returned to the girl's face, "Oh, I see…" turning back to the class, Satori bowed, "It is very nice to meet you all, I hope we can get along."

"Um… that's better," Mr. Johnson seemed a bit disturbed by the blond girl's actions but chose not to dwell on them as he focused on all four new students. "Well, feel free to take any of the open seats in class. I hope you all enjoy your time at this school."

The four girls nodded, before their eyes all zeroed in on the open seats behind Fubuki; the closest ones to Nate.

'_I can already see where this is going to go…'_ Katie thought with a sigh, completely unaware that a very similar thought was going through Nate's head at that moment…

"I've got this seat!" Nina was fast enough to claim the seat directly behind Fubuki.

"And I've got this one!" Sandi cheered as she jumped into the next seat down, before she and her sister exchanged a high-five.

Bear stiffened slightly at how one of the 'cute new girls' had just seated herself beside him, '_I have never been more thankful to be seated in the same row as Nate than I am now…_'

"Hey, that's not fair! I was just about to call that seat!" the new Natalie hissed, marching over to Nina and pointing at her, "Get out, that seat is mine!"

"No," Nina stuck her tongue out, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"You snooze, you lose!" Sandi mimicked her sister's pose exactly.

"Mine!" Satori quickly snuck passed the raging Natalie, claiming the final free seat in the desired row.

"What? Oh, come on! This is an outrage!" the orange-haired girl shouted, stomping her feet on the ground and shaking her fists.

"Miss. Kuchidake, please take a seat!" Mr. Johnson called out in a firm tone, offering no room for argument.

The human form of Chatalie grumbled to herself as she moved away from the row of seats that housed the object of her affection and walked to the other side of the class, plopping down into the free seat next to Katie, crossing her arms with a large frown stretched across her face.

Katie briefly glanced the new girl's way, before quickly averting her eyes.

"Geeze, the new girls are already going after Nate," Sarah whispered to Katie from her seat behind her, "Maybe something weird_ is_ going on here…"

Katie's eyes widened at her friend's admittance, having her look back at her with a soft smile, "Thank you, Sarah…"

Sarah chuckled, nodding back to her friend, "Don't get me wrong; whatever is going on, I'm still gonna make Nate my boyfriend. But you'll definitely be maid of honor at the wedding." The black-haired girl let out a dreamy sigh.

Katie's smile dropped as she let out an annoyed groan, turning away from Sarah and focusing on the teacher as he began going over the day's lesson.

Back over on the other side of class, Nate was trying to focus on the teacher as well, pointedly ignoring the _giggling_ that was increasing in volume… '_Just focus on schoolwork, they can't hurt you…_' the boy thought to himself, trying not to react to the feeling of being closely watched that creeped up his spine.

"Psst, Nate!"

"Do you recognize us?"

The yo-kai watch using boy tried his best to ignore the soft calls, keeping his attention firmly on his textbook.

"Nate! Over here!"

"Nate, didn't you notice? It's _us_ Nate!"

Fubuki growled under her breath as she noticed glared at the twins waving their arms to catch Nate's attention out of the corner of her mind, '_Now these girls are moving in here? I'm not going to be able to use any of my powers with all of them around if I want to keep my identity secret, when it was just Toiletta I could pull some stuff, but with this many other yo-kai…_' the disguised yuki-onna clenched her teeth, gripping her desk while restraining herself from freezing it. '_I'm going to need to rethink my tactics…_'

Nate groaned as the calls from 'Nina' and Sandi kept coming.

"Well, your class is certainly getting a bit more… diverse," Whisper commented as he floated over his master's shoulder.

Nate couldn't even muster up the energy to glare at his butler.

* * *

The cafeteria was in a frenzy over the introduction of the new girls, with many of the boys already trying to earn their favor (mostly Nina and Sandi's…) and some girls trying to befriend them, and/or 'size up the competition.'

Of course, that ended about how it was expected at this point…

"How can those new girls _already_ be all over Nate!?" Matt groaned, putting a hand to his face out of frustration.

"The girls in our class suddenly fawning over Nate was never logical in the first place, questioning it at this point is almost as illogical," Eddie commented with a shrug, doing his best to keep his eyes off the current situation and down at his phone.

"You can't keep this 'I'm not jealous' attitude up forever, Eddie," Bear grunted as he glared at his intelligent friend.

"I never said it didn't bother me, I'm just not taking something that's not Nate's fault out on him," Eddie briefly looked up at his larger friend with a slight glare, before focusing on the shortest of the new girls, currently among the crowd surrounding Nate, "Personally, I'm more curious on how Satori was able to pull off her 'mindreading' trick back there…"

"Maybe she actually can read minds," Lucas suddenly commented, seemingly appearing from nowhere and standing behind Eddie.

"Gah!?" the intelligent boy nearly jumped out of his seat, before turning to glare at the black-haired boy. "Don't do that!"

"… Don't do what?" Lucas questioned in a dull tone.

A few of the other boy's chuckled as Eddie groaned.

For Nate's part, he was trying to get away from the swarm of girls, and maybe hide somewhere, but it, of course, was nearly impossible to do so, especially with the 'new students' that had joined in…

"Oh, you look so cute, Nate" 'Nina' giggled as she poked at the blushing boy's cheek, her sister following her example soon after from the opposite side.

"You two seem to already be familiar with Nate," Alex commented with a slight frown.

"Oh, we're more than 'familiar' with him!" 'Nina' and Sandi both giggled as they latched onto the fearful Nate's arms, with 'Nina' on the right, and Sandi on the left.

Nate saw where this was going, his mind moving at rapid pace to find an escape route, but not fast enough…

"He's OUR BOYFRIEND!" the twins shamelessly exclaimed, before simultaneously kissing their 'boyfriend's' cheeks.

"Wait, WHAT!?" was the almost universal reaction from the other surrounding kids.

"Yup, we're dating!" 'Nina' cheered, nuzzling the petrified boy's cheek with her own.

"So, back off, other girls; he's ours forever!" Sandi smirked pushed her cheek up against her 'boyfriend's'

"Nate, what the heck!? First you hog all the girls' attention, now you have a pair of cute twins _both _being your _GIRLFRIENDS_!?" Bear shouted in outrage.

"If only I were triplets!" Meg agonized, throwing her fists up into the air.

"_As if_ you'd be able to share Nate with _two_ more of yourself," Maya scoffed at her pigtailed friend.

Meg gave the other girl a side glare, "I wouldn't mind more mes sharing my Natey-kins time. I'm too adorable to be jealous of!"

Maya just gave her friend a deadpan look.

"T-They're lying, r-right, Nate…?" Shelly squeaked as she snuck up to the side of the boy.

"I– "

"Obviously we're not lying!" 'Nina' interrupted Nate, glaring down at the shy girl.

"Yeah, can't you see how in love we are!?" Sandi barked, clinging to the boy's arm tightly, "Get lost!"

"EEK!" Shelly jumped back fearfully, ducking behind Maya.

At the rude treatment of Shelly, Nate's flustered expression gave way to a one of outrage, "Alright, that's enough!"

The twins gave gasps of surprise when Nate forcefully pulled himself free of their grips and gave them a glare.

"It's bad enough that you're lying to everyone about being my 'girlfriends,' but being mean to my other friends is where I draw the line!"

"N-Nate…" Shelly's cheeks turned pink as she stared at her crush with a dreamy expression.

"Mean…?" the twins blinked with blank expression, as if they were trying to process what exactly Nate was mad at them about.

"Shelly is my _friend_, so don't you go telling her to 'get lost,' got it?" Nate growled in a low tone.

"We… we got it, Nate…" Nina and Sandi had identically stunned expressions as they stared at their crush, having not expected him to react like that.

"T-Thank you, Nate," Shelly swooned, hiding her face in her hands as she looked away.

"You know, he called you his 'friend,' right?" Maya quietly commented as she tapped the glasses-wearing girl on the shoulder. "I think that's a friendzone…"

"Huh…?" Shelly's body stiffened.

"Nah, it just means he hasn't made a decision yet," Alex whispered to Shelly as she stepped over to her side, "Don't give up so soon, Shelly-girl, you're plenty cute, you could get him."

Shelly and Maya both seemed surprise at the encouraging words of the tomboyish girl.

"You really think so, Alex?" Shelly whispered back hopefully.

Alex nodded, giving a smirk, "Yeah, just keep up your A-game, since I'm gunning for him too."

"R-Right," Shelly nodded, doing her best to smile back.

"Did you just encourage our competition?" Sarah gave her friend a strange, yet amused look as they stepped away from the crowd.

"Just because we're all after Nate, doesn't mean we all need to be jerks to each other," the sporty girl chuckled as she and Sarah both made their way to a table where Katie was sitting. "Things may have been kind of hectic and heated when we all spontaneously gained affection for Nate, but now that I think we've calmed down a bit, I'm not going to let my desire for a boy have me lose all my female friends!"

Sarah smiled as they both sat down, "Well, I can't help but agree to that. I'm certainly not going to stop being friends with you any time soon."

Katie gave a smile of her own as she caught her friend's words, "I'm glad to hear you guys haven't completely lost it in your pursuit of Nate… even if I still don't get why you like him so much."

Both Alex and Sarah shrugged.

"Wish we could tell ya' Katie, but we don't really know why, other than him being a nice, cute guy," Alex chuckled.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, we all agree it was a weird thing, but an explanation for why we all developed affection for Nate is something we don't have," glancing down at her food for a minute, the bookworm looked back up at the ponytailed girl, "Though, I can say I'm glad you haven't been bitten by the 'Nate bug,' seeing as you'd win hands down."

Katie let out a cough, her face going a slight shade of red as she looked away, "Come on guys, it wouldn't be so simple, Nate doesn't like me _that_ much."

Both Sarah and Alex paused, glancing towards each other, and letting out a collective groan.

"Your obliviousness fills me with both relief and frustration," Alex shook her head.

"Ditto," Sarah agreed, placing a hand to her face.

Katie just gave her two friends strange looks, unsure of what exactly they were talking about.

"_Oops_!"

Before anyone knew what happened, Alex's face was shoved down into her food, pulling it up, the tan girl glared at the one whom had purposely elbowed her while walking by, "Hey!"

"Sorry, didn't see you there," Fubuki let out a mean chuckle as she glanced back at the three girls.

"Fubuki, that wasn't nice," Katie pointed out, glaring at the blue-haired girl.

Fubuki let out a fake gasp, "Oh dear, I did something that 'wasn't nice?' I am so, so sorry! How horrible of me! I must beg for forgiveness!"

Katie's glare hardened a bit at the other girl as she seemed to mock her.

Fubuki rolled her eyes as her fake apologetic look faded, scoffing at the brown-haired girl, "Look Katie, I don't know if you've noticed or not; but _I'm_ the most popular girl in class now. So, it would probably be in your best interests to stay out of my way from now on!"

Giving a mean-spirited chuckle, Fubuki arrogantly marched away from the three girls, who continued to glare in her direction.

"Wow, what a _B-word_," Sarah scoffed.

Both Katie and Alex gave their friends looks of disbelief, "Sarah!?"

"What? I didn't actually say _it_!"

"Out of the way, all of you!" Fubuki shouted at the crowd of girls, before sending a sweet smile Nate's way, "I'm sitting here!"

"Fubuki…?" Nate blinked, unsure of what to say to the girl, whom to his knowledge; was one of the few in school to have a yo-kai watch, like himself.

"Hey, Nate!" the blue-haired girl cheered, forcing her way through the crowd and sitting down at the boy's side, giggling a bit as he glanced away.

"Yeah… hi…" Nate muttered unsurely.

The rest of the girls were displeased with Fubuki's forceful display of how she had taken the seat next to the object of their collective affection, a displeasure which some of them were quick to voice.

"Hey, I was going to sit there, Fubuki!" Meg raised a fist angrily.

"No, I was!" Maya countered quickly.

"I called it first!" Natalie protested.

"Nah, I claimed that seat before the bell even rang!" the disguised Chatalie insisted, glaring at the taller girl which shared the same name as her alias.

"Then why didn't any of you sit in it?" Fubuki crossed her arms with a huff. "I sat down first, so the seat is mine!"

Nate let out a tired groan as the girls continued arguing…

* * *

By the time gym class had rolled around, the commotion hadn't calmed down any bit, with the various girls still trying to be closest to Nate, even if they had to get more subtle once the teacher walked in.

"Alright class, today's gym activity will be… ballroom dancing?" Mr. Johnson briefly looked confused as he glanced at the schedule, before shrugging, "Well, that_ is_ a physical activity I suppose."

"Still feels a bit of an odd choice for gym class," Whisper commented from his position beside Nate.

The yo-kai watch holder merely let out a grunt of defeat, already foreseeing how this would most likely go… still, he could help giving a hopeful glance towards Katie.

"Well, for this we'll need everyone to pair up, but since we have an odd number of students– "

"Don't worry about that," Lina and Zoey interrupted the teacher, both moving over to Nate with synchronized movement, seating themselves at his sides. "We'll share Nate as a partner!"

Mr. Johnson blinked at the spooky girl duo, letting out a small cough, "Um… thank you for the suggestion, girls, but– "

"No! We'll share Nate!" 'Nina' and Sandi both shouted as they ran over to Lina and Zoey, respectively, and pushed them away from Nate before grabbing his arms. "We're the twins, so it should be us!"

"That's not a valid reason…" Eddie muttered as he stared at the scene with an incredulous look.

"Yeah!" Meg suddenly spoke up, running over to Nate and shoving both of the disguised djinn to the ground, "I'm the one that should be dancing with Natey-kins! He's MINE! And I'm gonna be an idol, so that makes sense!"

"Alright, that's enough; Nina, Sandi, Megan! Pushing your classmates is unacceptable– "the teacher's words of protest went unheard as more girls started arguing and pushing each other.

"He's mine!" Maya growled as she rammed into Meg.

"No, _MINE_!" Meg stood her ground and pushed back.

"We could take turns or something," Alex suggested with an awkward chuckle, which went ignored by most of the other girls.

"And where does that leave the rest of us?" Eddie coughed awkwardly, gesturing to himself and the other boys.

"Lady Fubuki, may I have this dance?" Bear held out a hand to the blue-haired girl, an eager grin on his face.

Fubuki scoffed, "_Not even_ in your dreams!" she turned her nose up as she looked away, before glaring in the direction of Nate, a calculating look in her eyes.

"Come on guys, this is embarrassing for everyone," Katie put a hand to her face as she groaned.

Nate just drooped and sighed as the fighting continued, to the point that he was being pulled on by a few of the girls while the volume of the arguing voices continued…

* * *

The bell that indicated the end of classes for the day rang, and before anyone could react, Nate was already speeding out of his class and into the halls.

"Running away isn't going to solve your problems, Nate," Whisper scolded as he followed the human boy.

"I'm not 'running away,' I just… need a break!" Nate tried to justify as he kept running, before he ran into someone, knocking them over.

"Ow!"

"Oh man, sorry!" Nate quickly stopped in his tracks, looking down the girl and offering a hand to help her back up, ignoring the stern look Whisper was sending him.

"It's fine," the brown-haired girl shook her head, allowing the boy to help her back up.

Nate froze as soon as he got a good look at the girl, '_Wait… haven't I seen her before…?_'

Once the girl was on her feet, she gave a thankful smile to the boy, before she noticed his expression. She tilted her head, her brown eyes filled with curiosity, "Is… something wrong?"

'_She… she doesn't remember that, right?_' Nate thought to himself, remembering the time Kyubi and Dandoodle had competed in helping him become popular with girls; and now the girl whom they had helped him endear himself to was standing before him! But he remembered her memory was erased, so… "Um, it's nothing!" he quickly waved his hands in denial.

"Okay, if you say so," the girl gave a bit of a chuckle, before looking the boy over a bit, "Say… are you Nathan Adams, from Class 5-2?"

Nate shrunk back a bit, realizing the girl had probably heard the rumors about him, "Uh… yeah, I am…" he gave a bit of a an awkward cough, though he noted the girl didn't seem to show any disgust and/or sudden interest in him, which calmed him a bit. "So, I haven't really seen you around here before."

"I'm in Class 5-3," the girl chuckled, "Odd that we've never run into each other until now… but I do find it strangely rare for any of our class to run into students from another."

"Now that you mention it, it's kind of the same for mine," Nate muttered, scratching his head, "It's only recently that my classmates and I have started interacting with students of Class 5-1, despite the fact that my _cousin_ is in that class…"

"Yeah, it's really weird!" the girl chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm Elisabeth Stone, but my friends call my Lizzie," the girl introduced cheerfully, outstretching a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Nate!"

"Likewise," Nate smiled, shaking the hand, though he pulled back quickly when he noticed how the girl was looking over him with slightly sparkling eyes, and rosy cheeks, "Er, uh… w-why are you looking at me like that…?"

"I don't know what it is, but…" Elisabeth leaned forward, staring Nate straight in the eyes, "I feel like… there's something about you that's familiar… in a 'warm and fuzzy' sort of way." The brunette girl let out a small giggle, placing a hand on her red cheek, "Sorry, that's a bit embarrassing to say, hmm…" she gained a wider smile as her blush intensified, "I know I'm being a bit forward here, and I know what the rumors say about you, but… you don't actually have a real 'girlfriend' yet, do you…?"

"Uh, you know, I'm getting the feeling that I should probably be going– "Nate started to say but was halted when he suddenly felt a soft grip on his arm. Looking down, the yo-kai watch-user saw that Elisabeth had grabbed hold of his arm.

"No, stay… with me," she spoke in a dreamy tone of voice as she pulled the boy closer to her, "Don't leave me, like last time…"

"Nate… I have a bad feeling about this," Whisper tried to warn.

"Wha– "Nate's eyes widened.

"Shh," Lizzie put a finger to Nate's lips to silence him, before she gave him a slightly dazed smile, "It_ is_ you, you're the boy I've seen in my dreams…"

"Y-Your dreams…" Nate muttered in disbelief, a bright blush appearing on his own face, before he noticed that the grip the girl had on him was tightening… "Huh…?"

"You… you won't leave me like you do in those dreams, because you're real now, right?" Elisabeth's smile turned slightly manic as her grip kept tightening.

"L-Lizzie, y-you're hurting me," Nate tried to break free from the hold.

Elisabeth's eyes widened, her pupils shrinking, "NO!" in retaliation to Nate trying to break free, the girl tightened her grip even more, putting both arms firmly around the boy and pulling her head into his chest, "You can't leave! You're my dream boy, MINE! If you leave, you won't come back to me! I-I can't let that happen, I… I!"

Nate started sweating as the girl's expression grew more and more crazed, "Uh, w-we can meet again some other time, but– "

"You say that, but you… how do I know you won't just leave, and disappear again?" Elisabeth tilted her head while looking up at Nate; the motion that had previously been cute, now seeming all too creepy.

"M-My class isn't far from yours, I'm not going to vanish into thin air or anything," Nate averted his eyes from the girl, '_W-Was she always like this… maybe I should thank Kyubi and Dandoodle for erasing her memory after our first meeting… unless __**that's**__ what caused her to be like this!?_'

"Oh really, you aren't going to leave like in my dreams, Nate…?" for a second, Elisabeth's expression seemed to turn completely innocent, though the continued tight hold over him kept Nate from lowering his guard. The girl let out a small giggle, finally releasing her grip and allowing the boy room to breathe, "Oh, that's so good to hear Nate, I won't have to wonder where you've gone anymore, now I know where I can find you…"

"Y-Yeah…" Nate took several steps backwards, not taking his eyes off the unstable girl.

"I understand you have to go now, Nate, but I look forward to our next meeting!" Elisabeth gave a shining smile.

Nate blinked in disbelief, the pink returning to his cheeks as he stared at the girl, '_H-How can she be so cute after all __**that**__!?_' he wasn't sure how it was possible, but the one smile seemed to wipe away all the unease the last few moments of interacting with Elisabeth had brought…

"Oh, but one thing," Elisabeth's smile widened a bit, before it suddenly turned crooked, her eyes opening wide with tiny, shaking pupils, and the feeling of warm sunshine she was giving off moments before replaced with an overwhelming aura of terror, "If any of those _other girls_ try to take you away from me, or if _you_ try to leave me for any of them… I'll do what I need to do!"

Nate nearly fell over in shock at the abrupt switch in personality, as well as internally berating himself for being fooled by a simple smile!

Elisabeth took advantage of Nate's momentary shock to charge forward and grab hold of his right hand, "You're mine! Got it, **MINE!**" as if to prove point, or perhaps 'mark her property,' the crazed girl roughly brought Nate's hand up to her mouth, and bit it, _hard_!

"YEOW!" Nate reeled back out of pain and shock.

"GOOD LORD ENMA!?" Whisper gasped as he put his hands to his head/body, eyes wide with horror. "NATE, GET AWAY FROM THAT GIRL!"

Nate barely processed his butler's words as he pulled his hand away and stared at it in disbelief; a red bite mark was plainly visible on his hand. "W-Wha…? Why would– "

"SHHH!" Elisabeth put a finger to Nate's lips once more, giving a crooked smile and a sinister giggle, before she quickly planted a gentle kiss on the boy's cheek.

"Gah!?" Nate jumped back; his mind overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.

Elisabeth giggled, "Oh, so cute… until we meet again, my _dream boy_…" Elisabeth gave a few innocent giggles as she turned and started skipping down the hall, giggles which slowly turned into insane laughter as she got further and further away…

"… Nate?" the yo-kai butler looked towards his master carefully, unsure what to make out of what just happened, or what he should say to the boy.

Nate stood in shock for several moments, before he finally started backing up in the opposite direction that Elisabeth had gone in, once Nate was around the corner, he immediately leaned against the wall, gripping his hand and staring at the bite mark, his breathing growing erratic, until the point where he started hyperventilating, and then… "**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**"

* * *

"Nate? You look terrible…" Eddie commented as he, Bear and Katie were met with their friend as they were getting ready to leave school.

"I'm… okay…" Nate assured in a near-monotone; his eyes focused on the ground.

"You sure…" Katie looked worried from the boy's demeanor; she could understand that he would be a bit frustrated by the day's events, but the way he seemed now seemed much more _shaken_ than frustrated…

"I… don't worry, it's fine," Nate tried to smile at his friends as they walked out of the school.

"Well, you sure ran out of class fast earlier, is having pretty much every girl in school fawning over you really that bad," Bear grumbled a bit as he eyed Nate, before Katie lightly smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow! HEY!"

Eddie sighed and shook his head.

Nate glanced between his friends while they continued to walk down the path to exit the school, a bit of a more genuine smile coming to his face as he chuckled a bit.

"Hey, Nate!" a cheerful, female voice suddenly interrupted the group.

Nate glanced over and gawked at the sight of Amy rushing through the school's gate, a bright smile on her face, clad in a light green, short-sleeved dress. "A-Amy!? Why are you– "the boy couldn't finish his sentence before he was engulfed in a hug by the taller girl.

"Aw, were you surprised to see me, sweetie?" the pigtailed girl cooed as she hugged her crush tightly, before she noticed the other three kids staring at her, giving a cheerful smile their way, "Oh, hey guys! Hope you don't mind, but I've been thinking about meeting Nate after school, so I think I'll be taking him now!"

"Hold on a minute!" Nate tried to protest, before he was dragged away by the overzealous teen.

Eddie, Bear and Katie just remained still, staring in a stunned silence for several moments.

"Why is Nate so lucky?" Bear questioned, breaking the silence.

"Define 'lucky,'" Katie asked, giving her larger friend a strange look.

"Getting dragged off by a pretty thirteen-year-old girl, presumedly for a date, while we're left in the dust?" Eddie reasoned in an emotionless tone.

"Yeah… that," Bear nodded stiffly.

Katie sighed, putting a hand to her forehead and shaking her head.

* * *

"Amy, what the heck!?" Nate cried out as he was pulled through the town by the overly enthusiastic girl, "Where are we going!?"

"Shopping, of course!" Amy exclaimed cheerfully, taking the turn to bring them in the direction of Flower Road.

"Wait, what? Why drag me off for that!?" Nate yelped as he struggled against the older girl's grip.

Amy giggled, glancing back at Nate with a mischievous smile and a slight blush, "Well, who else would I get to tell me what they think of the outfits I'm going to try on?"

Nate's mind nearly froze, his face growing extremely warm as his eyes slowly widened.

"I've been thinking about getting a new _swimsuit_, so I hope you'll be able to help me with that especially, _Nate_," Amy's grin widened as she took note of her crush's reddening face.

"I-uh, I, I-duh…" a few stuttering attempts at speaking were all that managed to escape from Nate's mouth as his brain seemed to be attempting to reboot…

Amy let out another giggle, "So _cute_!"

Nate shook his head, managing to snap himself out of his mind-freeze, letting out a sign and accepting the idea of being dragged on a shopping trip by the older girl, '_Oh well, at least seeing Amy in a swimsuit sounds…_' the boy started to blush again, shaking his head quickly, '_No, no! You like Katie, don't be swayed by–_ 'Nate's thoughts were cut off by a shadowy form swooping down and grabbing him. "Wha!?"

"I think first we should go to…" Amy paused, grasping the hand that just moments ago had Nate's hand clasped within it, looking back, the girl found her crush had vanished. "… Nate?"

* * *

"See, here's the guy I was telling you about, he's completely Tempest Pride material!"

The cheerful voice Nate recognized as Little Charrmer's was the first thing he became aware of as his vision started to regain focus, along with his balance. Once the boy had recovered from the sudden kidnapping, for the most part, he took the moment to look around his surroundings.

Nate gulped as quickly realized he was standing on the roof of Springdale Central Station, Little Charrmer's arm wrapped around his shoulder and holding him close to her, while four unfamiliar yo-kai were observing him with skeptical expressions.

"Allow me to introduce you to the rest of Tempest Pride, Nate!" Little Charrmer suddenly shouted, catching the boy off guard, before she gestured to the shortest of the group. "That blue kid over there is our latest recruit, before yourself; Unbearaboy!"

"Uh, nice ta meet'cha," the blue-skinned baby-like yo-kai commented unsurely, adjusting his sunglasses a bit.

**Charming Tribe: Unbearaboy!**

"Um, yeah, nice to–" Nate's awkward attempt at an introduction didn't get far as the red-clad female yanked him over to meet the next member of the group; a blue clad humanoid, whom looked like he was having trouble sitting still, as he continued to run in place.

"And this guy here is Double Time, he's of course, the fastest of the bunch!" Little Charrmer smiled widely as she chuckled.

"Hihi!How'sitgoingkid,sorryourbossyankedyouoffthestreet!" the speedy yo-kai spoke very quickly, a bit too quick for Nate to pick up on what he said.

**Heartful Tribe: Double Time**

"Huh? Wha– " again, Nate didn't manage to get a word out before he was pulled to see the last two members; a shark looking guy whom reminded Nate a bit of Steve Jaws, aside from his much more muscular body and luchador-theme attire, and a yo-kai whom looked mostly human, aside from his legs being replaced with a ghost tail, wearing a lab coat, and a skull-mask over the top-half of his face.

"So, this is the kid you were talking about?" The shark man questioned as he looked Nate up and down, "Not exactly what I was expecting, I'm– "

"I'd like you to meet the muscle of the group; The Jawsome Kid!" Little Charrmer interrupted, jumping between Nate and the shark yo-kai.

**Tough Tribe: The Jawsome Kid**

"Hey, I was gonna say that!" The Jawsome Kid growled in protest.

"I'm not even going to bother introducing myself," the skull-masked yo-kai grunted with crossed arms.

"Uh…" Nate looked unsure of what to say.

Little Charrmer just smiled, pointing to the skull-masked yo-kai, "His name is Dr. E. Raser, he's the brains of the group!"

**Shady Tribe: Dr. E. Raser**

"Sure, why not?" Dr. E. Raser shrugged.

Nate shook his head, glancing between the different yo-kai, "Yeah, it's nice to meet all of you, but why am– "

"And now, my new sidekick, it's time for patrol!" the lead hero exclaimed with vigor, interrupting Nate by pulling the boy close to her once more, seemingly intentionally directing the side of his face into her chest, which had the boy nearly glowing red and unable to speak.

The other members of Tempest Pride exchanged skeptical expressions once more, before leveling even looks towards their leader.

"Um, are ya _sure _this is the guy ya were talking 'bout, boss?" Unbearaboy! questioned, putting his hands to his hips while shaking his head. "He looks ta be just some scared kid ta me…"

"And with the way you're acting… and how you talk about him…" The Jawesome Kid gave an uncomfortable frown.

"Are you sure your intention is for him to be your _sidekick_?" Dr. E. Raser finished the shark yo-kai's thought, giving his leader a suspicious look.

Little Charrmer huffed, turning away with indignation (and to hide her blush), while pulling Nate into a tight hug, shoving the entirety of his face into her chest, in spite of his muffled screams, "How dare you, my own team, think that I, one of the top yo-kai heroes of the world, would have anything but pure intentions with my desire to make Nathan here my sidekick!"

"You're smothering the poor guy as if you either want to suffocate him, or give him a heart attack," Dr. E. Raser commented dully.

Little Charrmer's eyes widened as she suddenly became aware of the boy's struggling and muffled screams, before she released him, "Oh Lord Enma! Nate, I'm so sorry!"

The red-faced boy took a deep breath, "Th-Thank you…"

"Hey,youokaykid!?" Double Time asked quickly with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Nate nodded, taking a step back from Little Charrmer and letting out a groan.

"Good, good…" Little Charrmer glanced away with a bit of embarrassment evident on her face. "So, um…" The devil-themed yo-kai hero gave a small cough, putting a hand to her chest while glancing away with a little blush and a shy smile. "It might not have been the best of experiences, but did you… um, like my– "

"Let's change the subject before it's decided that _you're_ the one whom needs to be stopped, boss…" The Jawsome Kid interjected sternly.

Nate wasn't sure his face could be burning any hotter than it was now, especially as he processed what exactly the red-clad heroine was going to ask…

"Ahm," Little Charrmer gave a fake cough. Not wanting to be further humiliated in front of her team, and crush, she decided to change the subject; "There have been a notable string of robberies with the yo-kai community of the area. It's not likely we'll run into anything on a daytime patrol at this moment, but I figure it's a good place for you to start learning!"

Any amount of protest seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Nate found himself being dragged on 'patrol…'

* * *

Nate sighed tiredly as he made his way up to his home. The patrol had been uneventful but had run longer than he thought it would; the sun was now setting, casting the sky in a yellow-orange glow. At least he got the other Tempest Pride members' medals…

Nate gave another tired sigh as he opened the door to his home and stepped inside.

"Nate!" The boy was almost immediately met with a worried looking mother, his father not far behind in a similar state, "Where have you been!?"

"I, uh, got sidetracked…" Nate muttered, scratching his head, giving his mother and father a hug while mumbling an apology.

"Hm, sidetracked, by _what_ I wonder…" Toiletta grunted in a disinterested tone from the couch.

Nate glanced over in the ghost girl's direction, but she refused to look his way, which did nothing to improve the boy's mood.

"Well, so long as you're okay, but warn us next time if you're going to spend a while with friends," Nate's father requested firmly.

Nate nodded, still looking in Toiletta's direction, before he sighed again and started making his way towards the stairs, and hopefully his room–

A frantic knock on the door had Nate flinching, and freezing in his tracks…

Nate's mother looked at the door curiously, "Huh, who could that be?" with a shrug, the woman moved to open the door.

"NATE!?" Amy suddenly shouted as she charged into the house, immediately putting her focus on the boy, her eyes wide with worry, "What happened!? Where did you go!?"

"Amy, huh…?" Lily looked at the girl with confusion, glancing to her husband, who gave a similar look.

Nate groaned, putting a hand to his head, "Sorry… Amy, about that… I got tied up in something." Walking over to the girl, Nate patted her on the shoulder, before turning back to the stairs, "But right now; I just want to go to bed…"

"Huh… um, okay…" Amy still looked concerned, tapping her fingers together as she watched him.

"Bed? Nate, it's not even dinner time yet," Aaron pointed out to his son.

The boy only gave a mumbling groan in response as he walked up the stairs.

Toiletta subtly eyed Nate when she was sure he wasn't looking, a sour look on her face.

* * *

Having made his way up the steps and to his room, Nate closed the door behind him, trudging over to his bed, "I just want to sleep…"

"Captain…?" Sailornyan spoke up as she stood at the foot of the bed, blinking in confusion.

Nate gave a small smile at the sight of the pink nekomata, picking her up before sitting on the bed, "Sailornyan, you're a good kitty… a good, nice, kitty…" he slowly stroked the cat yo-kai's fur affectionately.

Sailornyan's eyes widened at her 'Captain's' sudden actions, but quickly just allowed herself to sink into it, smiling fondly and letting out some purrs. "Aw, Captain Nyate…" the feline closed her eyes

Nate just smiled tiredly as he kept petting the cat, her purrs soothing his stressed mind a bit.

Though in their shared blissful state, neither Nate nor Sailornyan noticed as the closet door started to slide open…

"Nate! You can't just keep leaving me behind every time you– "Whisper flew into the room, blinking in confusion to find a distinct lack of anyone in the room, "… Nate…?"

* * *

"Hello Darling!"

Nate's body stiffened, suddenly finding himself in the chilling embrace of Blizzaria, with a frozen Sailornyan on the ground beside them.

"I've been waiting for you to get home; I was so _lonely_ without you!" the yuki-onna gave a faux-forlorn sigh, leaning her head against the boy's chest.

"Um… hi, Blizzaria…" Nate offered weakly, giving a few futile struggles to escape, but it was apparent to him that he wouldn't be getting away from the frosty female any time soon…

"Yes, hi, and now let us go!" Blizzaria giggled, pulling Nate along as she floated through the apartment's halls. "You are very much overdue for a visit to my room! Come, Darling, do not keep me waiting any longer!"

Nate could only internally panic, his body having lost any ability to move by the combination of cold and exhaustion; both physical and mental. All he could do was resign himself to his fate of likely ending up an ice sculpture in Blizzaria's room… or, her husband? He wasn't sure which was scarier at the moment.

"Hold it right there, Blizzaria!"

The shouting of an unfamiliar female voice had Nate trying his hardest to glance over, though it was unnecessary as Blizzaria turned him to the voice's source and she herself turned to glare.

"You, I should've known you'd show up here eventually," Blizzaria growled.

The newcomer, who appeared to be a ghost-like, humanoid yo-kai, made from some sort of mist, smirk, "Yes, because that boy you keep calling 'Darling,' is my true love! I've known it since the moment I saw a picture of him, and I won't let you claim him! Not from me; Smogmella!"

**Mysterious Tribe: Smogmella**

'_Saw a pictu–THAT MAKES NO SENSE!_' Nate internally screamed as he took in the new female's reason for her interest in him.

"Oh, I'm sure you have some grand fantasy about how you two will be 'together forever,'" Blizzaria mocked, keeping a tight hold on the human. "But you see, here's a problem; your 'true love' is _taken_, by _me_!"

Smogmella's smirk didn't waver, "I'm not afraid to take what's mine; all love stories must have a bit of conflict, and besides…" the ghostly female took on a flirtation pose, sending a wink Nate's way, "Why would he want to be with an _icy witch_ like you, when he could be with a beauty like _me_?"

'_Well, I can already tell this isn't going to end well…_' if Nate could vocalize anything right now, it would be a _long_ and agony filled sigh.

Blizzaria's eye twitched as she growled at the new rival, "Why you– "

"HOLD IT!"

Both Blizzaria and Smogmella turned to look towards the new voice.

'_Now what!?_' Nate wished he could facepalm at this moment.

"That little cutie doesn't belong to either of you, he belongs to me!" the newcomer, whom looked near identical to Blizzaria, aside from her red clothing, pink hair–with flowers decorating it in place of a Glacial Clip, did a twirl in midair, clasping her hands together as she smiled towards Nate, "Camellia!"

**Brave Tribe: Camellia**

"_You_…" Blizzaria seemed familiar with this lookalike, and not very happy to see her.

Camellia paid no attention to Blizzaria's tone, putting her hands to her blushing cheeks and letting out a bashful giggle, "After all, I am a princess, and a princess needs a knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet!" her expression quickly changed to one of smug confidence as her eyes narrowed and a smirk formed, lifting up an arm and pointing towards the paralyzed boy, "And Nathan Adams, congratulations! I choose you!"

Nate's body twitched a bit, a few whimpers managing to escape his mouth, though internally he was screaming.

"Oh, Infinite Infer-_**NO**_! I'm not letting you take_ my_ Darling from me!" Blizzaria snarled, keeping tight hold of Nate while sneering at Camellia, though she was also wary of Smogmella as the cloud-like yo-kai circled her.

Camellia simply giggled again, her confidence unwavering, "Oh please, 'your Darling,' he will be my knight! There's nothing you can say to change this, he already agreed to come to my kingdom!"

'… _I did what?_' Nate internal screaming stopped briefly in favor of his questioning.

"_Wrong_, he has agreed to marry me! There's not a thing you can do to stop that!" Smogmella suddenly declared, inserting herself between the two near-identical females.

'_WHAT IS HAPPENING!?_' the screaming and questioning in Nate's mind had combined together as he tried to rationalize where these girls were getting these ideas of him 'agreeing' to this or that.

"Liars! Both of you are liars!" Blizzaria raged as the other two girls closed in on her, both intent on claiming the captive Nate for themselves.

"Blizzaria, let him go!" Camellia charged forward, grabbing hold of one of the limp boy's arms, "He's mine, and you're hurting him!"

"I'm not hurting my Darling!" Blizzaria snapped, yanking Nate back.

"Surender my fiancé!" Smogmella came up from behind Blizzaria, grabbing Nate's head and trying to pull him free from the yuki-onna's grip.

"NYA!" Sailornyan suddenly jumped and onto Smogmella, having apparently thawed out while the three were bickering, "LEAVE THE CAPTAIN ALONE YOU BULLIES!"

"Ah! Get off you mangy cat!" Smogmella started flailing around to remove the nekomata from her hair.

Blizzaria almost looked gratefully towards the feline yo-kai, but she was quickly reminded of her other adversary as Camellia managed to snatch Nate right out of her arms.

"MINE!" the red-clad princess cheered, nuzzling her face into Nate's hair.

'… _Warm,_' Nate couldn't help but think, blushing a bit from Camellia's affection. The Blizzaria lookalike seemed to, ironically, be producing an air of warmth and energy around herself, which was probably why Nate was starting to regain the feeling in his limbs…

However, the warmth was soon swept away, by the mini snowstorm that had started to form around Blizzaria, while she stared towards her counterpart with a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "Give. Me. Back. MY. **NATE!**"

"Oh no…" Nate actually managed to whisper as he hung limply in a stunned princess' arms.

"B-Blizzaria…?" Camellia actually seemed slightly frightened by her lookalike's disposition, before she gave a weak smile, "Hey, come on… I-I admit I lied about Nate having already agreed to come be my knight, but we're friends, we don't need to– "

"SHUT YOUR TRAP, HOMEWRECKER!" icy power blasted forward from Blizzaria's form.

Camellia's eyes widened further in shock and terror as the ice attacks shot towards her. Without a second thought, the flower princess tossed Nate to the side, allowing herself to be frozen solid in the process.

"Huh!?" Nate gasped, before giving a pained grunt as he hit the wall, weakly pulling himself into a sitting position, staring at the frozen Camellia, '_Did… did she just save me…?_'

"What in the world!?" Smogmella had stopped in her struggling, looking towards the scene of Blizzaria's most recent attack with wide eyes.

"She did that to me too… but nyot as aggressively," Sailornyan commented with a shiver, as she held onto Smogmella's ghost-tail.

Blizzaria's form twitched stiffly, briefly glancing towards the remaining rivals' ways, gaining a dark smirk when they looked back at her with fear, before she turned her focus back towards her 'Darling.'

Nate's felt a terrifying chill creep down his spine as he noticed Blizzaria's focus on him. He wanted to call her out for how she had so violently attacked him and her 'friend' (at least, if Camellia's words were to be believed), but found himself unable to utter a word as she slowly floated towards him.

"Now then, let's ignore all these _nonessentials_, and get back to _our_ time, Darling!" the yuki-onna grinned madly as she kept floating towards him.

"Captain!" Sailornyan released her hold of Smogmella's tail, looking ready to charge forward and rescue her captain, but a blast of frosty wind quickly froze her lower body in place, "NYA!?"

"Be happy I don't want to expend the energy to entirely freeze you again," Blizzaria hissed as she coldly glared back at the pink nekomata, holding up a glowing blue hand.

"Th-This is uncalled for behavior!" Smogmella balled her fists while glaring at the crazed snow woman, despite her body trembling. "Sure, we were all fighting over the same boy, but you shouldn't behave so– "the misty yo-kai couldn't finish her sentence, as she found herself frozen solid and dropping to the ground.

"Annoying!" Blizzaria snarled, the hand she had used to freeze Smogmella still outstretched and glowing.

Nate remained in place, his body trembling from both the cold of the hall, and his overwhelming fear, "B-Blizzaria… please… c-calm down!"

At the sound of Nate's voice, Blizzaria turned back to face him, her expression immediately shifting from murderous to one of sunny love and affection, "Oh, of course Darling! I'm so sorry for going overboard just now, but you know how I can get when our love is threatened," the yuki-onna giggled bashfully, putting a hand to her cheek.

"Y-Yeah…" Nate whimpered, glancing around the hall to see if there was maybe an easy escape route… but of course there wasn't; it was a _hallway_.

"Ah, don't worry sweetie," Blizzaria gave a little smirk as she looked over the frozen yo-kai (well, half-frozen, in Sailornyan's case). "They'll thaw out without issues; yo-kai can't be destroyed by freezing."

"That doesn't make it pleasant!" Sailornyan snapped, still struggling to free her lower half from the encasing of ice.

Blizzaria gave a brief, annoyed look the nekomata's way, but it didn't last for long before she returned to focusing on the terrified human.

Nate gulped, his shaking calming down a bit; as it seemed Blizzaria was no longer in 'super scary mode,' but he couldn't simply forget what had occurred, not when the frozen yo-kai were still right within his sight, and one of them was a struggling Sailornyan. The human quickly began to weigh his options, '_I can't just run and leave them, not Sailornyan at least, but I can't really do much to break them out of the ice at the moment, and if Blizzaria loses it again…_' he started to sweat a bit as he looked at the yuki-onna, whom innocently tilted her head and let out a cute little laugh. _'… Who knows what she'll do if I try to escape, the best thing would probably be to go along with her until–_ "

"Hold it right there, villain!" Little Charrmer loudly boasted as she came charging into the hall, the flames surrounding her as she landed being enough to melt the ice, freeing the other yo-kai.

"Oh, thank Lord Enma!" Smogmella gasped for breath, even though she (probably?) didn't need to breath.

"Nyow I'm all wet…" despite being freed, Sailornyan didn't seem happy with this turn of events.

"Blizzaria… you really went overboard," Camellia gripped her soaked ponytail with a disappointed sigh.

Before Blizzaria could give any response, she was suddenly hit with a kick from the red-clad heroine, sending her into a wall with a pained grunt, "Hey!"

"Freezing innocents is no laughing matter, and neither is endangering my sidekick!" Little Charrmer announced seriously, before grinning as she jumped over to Nate's side, helping him up, "Hey Nate! Sorry patrol was so boring earlier, but maybe later we can– "a blast of ice shot past Little Charrmer, which she swiftly dodged before glaring at the attacker.

"He's not your sidekick!" Blizzaria growled, her glowing hand twitching as she pointed towards the newcomer. "He's my boyfriend! _**MINE**_!"

Nate let out a long sigh, the terror he had felt over the situation becoming overwhelmed by how _tired_ he was from everything about the day earlier, with _this_ being the cherry on top, "I– "

_Of course_, Nate didn't get to finish his sentence. "He's my sidekick! I've already decided! He's Tempest Pride material and nothing you, or anyone else can say will shake me on that!" Little Charrmer grabbed Nate by the shoulder and roughly pulled him close and up against her side. "And I will _not_ have my cute and innocent sidekick being corrupted by _villains_!"

Blizzaria roared as she shot another frosty blast towards Little Charrmer, which was dodged again. "I am not a villain!"

"Your behavior says otherwise…" Sailornyan muttered as she stood back from the scene.

"I wouldn't call her a 'villain,' more like a…" Camellia paused as she tried to think of a word to describe her icy 'friend.'

"_Nutjob_," Smogmella finished in a sarcastic tone as she drifted up to Camellia's side.

The flower-theme princess blinked, giving the less-solid spirit a strange look, "Um… I wouldn't really put it like _that_ either…"

Blizzaria's eye twitched slightly as she glanced back at the conversing females, "Would you three either get back into trying to claim Nate for yourselves, or just leave!"

The three blinked in surprise, before speaking in unison, "Oh yeah…" and without another word, Camellia, Smogmella and Sailornyan charged forward, jumping onto Little Charrmer, along with Blizzaria, resulting in a huge smoke cloud of combat and yelling as each girl tried to take possession of the lone human.

"AH!? STOP!" Nate cried out in panic as he was pulled at and tossed around among the fighting females.

"The Infinite Inferno's going on over– "Faux Kappa paused as he came around a corner in the hall, only to stand frozen as he watched the scene taking place. Nate managed to catch a glimpse of him and send a pleading look the kappa's way as he was tossed up out of the cloud before being pulled back in. Faux Kappa stood there for a few more seconds in silence… before he began to quickly walk backwards, retreating to the way he came.

'_TRAITOR!_' Nate's internally screamed as he was tossed up again.

"HE'S MINE!" Blizzaria raged as she grabbed Nate out of the air.

"NO, HE ISN'T!" Little Charrmer countered as she pushed the yuki-onna down and grabbed her 'sidekick.'

"HE'S OURS!" Sandi and Insomni shouted as they snatched Nate up.

The human's eyes widened at the sudden intrusion of the twin djinns, "Where did you two come from!?"

"We've been waiting for you since we got home from school, but then we heard this going on!" Insomni explained.

"We won't let them take you!" Sandi exclaimed with conviction.

"Didn't he get mad at you two because you insulted his friend at school?" Chatalie pointed out in a mocking tone, popping up from behind the twins and snatching Nate right out of their stunned arms, "Hello there, dear!" the big mouthed yo-kai cooed.

'_Errr…_' Nate shuddered as Chatalie gave him a kiss on the cheek, which nearly engulfed half his face…

Neither djinn looked pleased.

"Didn't you insult some of the other girls yourself!?" Insomni hissed, grabbing Nate back from Chatalie.

"And quite maliciously, I might add!" Sandi added as she floated up from behind Chatalie and bonked her on the head with a fist.

"Ow!" Chatalie grunted, rubbing her head and giving off a few growls.

"I– "Nate was mistaken to think he would get a chance to speak…

"Stop tormenting Captain Nyate!" Sailornyan shouted as she jumped up and latched onto the 'captain's' legs. "He just wants to go to bed!"

Even if she interrupted him, Nate was grateful that Sailornyan seemed to have his desires at heart. '_That's my cute kitty._'

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Blizzaria suddenly jumped up from the struggle, smacking Sailornyan away and into a wall.

"NYA!?" Sailornyan hit the wall headfirst, before she fell to the floor with swirly eyes, "Nya…"

Nate's eyes widened with shock and worry, Insomni, Sandi and Chatalie seemed more focused on Blizzaria as she floated up to them.

"What _Nate _wants is what_ I_ want; for us to spend time together, without any more interruptions!" the yuki-onna raised both arms, preparing to unleash a massive ice attack.

"Blizzaria, stop it!" Camellia shot up and latched onto her lookalike, holding onto her tightly.

"HEY!" Blizzaria struggled, furiously glaring at the female who had halted her attempt at an attack.

"You don't need to freeze everyone, we can work out how to distribute our Nate's time, together!" the flower princess seemed to have had a change of heart regarding the current competition.

"There's no way we could come to an agreement on that, there's too many of us for such a thing to give us any form of satisfaction!" Smogmella scoffed as she floated up behind Camellia.

'_Ditto…_' Nate thought as he hung in the grips of Insomni and Sandi, dreading the idea of him trying to act as 'boyfriend' to so many females…

Camellia furrowed her brow a bit, seeming displeased by the interruption of the misty yo-kai, "I mean, we could try though, couldn't we? It would be better than destroying each other over him!"

"Shut up, Camellia," Blizzaria growled, blasting an icicle spear towards the flowery princess.

The arguments between the females started to escalate, and through the panic and fear he felt over the situation, Nate was able to notice that the attention on him, as well as the grips, was slipping as they started to focus more heavily on the arguments.

"I'm trying to get us to a peaceful conclusion!" Camellia shouted as she and Blizzaria glared at each other.

"I don't care!" Blizzaria hissed.

"A peaceful solution would be ideal, but I don't see any such thing happening at this point," Little Charrmer crossed her arms with a huff.

"NYA!" Sailornyan had gotten back to her feet and was growling with irritation, trying to push her way into the group, "Release Captain Nyate!"

"Now see here, you," Chatalie looked down at the cat yo-kai with a growl, before she suddenly realized something, "Wait… who has Nate…?"

The girls all paused, glancing at each as it set in that none of them were holding a grip on the object of their collective affection anymore, before they glanced down the hall and seeing the human trying to sneak off.

Nate's body stiffened as he felt all the eyes on him, before he sped off.

"**NATE, WAIT!**" and the girls rushed after him…

'_Got to get away! Got to get away! GOT TO GET AWAY!_' Nate's thoughts were filled with panic as he rushed through the apartment building in order to escape the small army of overzealous girls.

"Psst, hey, Nate, get in here."

The whispering voice had Nate stop in his tracks, glancing over to see a door opened a crack, an eye glowing from within.

"Kyubi…?" Nate blinked, before his panic returned as he heard the onslaught of females catching up to him. Without a second thought, the human charged into the room, the door closing and locking behind him just before the girls came charging through the hall and past it…

* * *

Nate breathed heavily with his back to the door, feeling a tiny bit of relief when he heard his pursuers pass and fade away. Wiping some sweat from his brow, the boy slid down to the floor and let out a loud groan.

"Having some girl troubles, are we?"

The human boy blinked, looking up to his savior; the nine tailed fox yo-kai, Kyubi. "You don't know the half of it, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take," Nate put a hand to his forehead as he sighed. "Thanks…"

Kyubi chuckled, crossing his arms as he looked down at the boy, "No problem, us popular guys need to stick together!"

Nate let out another groan, "I really wish I weren't so 'popular' right now!"

Kyubi chuckled again, giving an arrogant grin, "Not easy being adored by the opposite sex, is it? I'm not too surprised your having difficulties with your sudden popularity boost, not everyone can handle it."

"So, you _can_ handle it…?" Nate gave the fox yo-kai a thoughtful look.

The kitsune nodded, turning away from the boy as a devious smirk crept its way onto his muzzle, "Of course, I'm an expert when it comes to the hearts of women… in fact, if you want, I think I may be able to give you hand with disbanding this little 'harem,'" the fox yo-kai hid his smirk as he turned back around and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Nate's eyes widened with hope, "Wait, really!? How!? HOW!?"

"Settle down, I'll help you, but we need a plan," Kyubi stated firmly, circling the human and humming to himself.

"Plan?" Nate blinked.

Kyubi nodded, "Yes; a woman's heart is not so easily swayed once they've set their sights a romantic target, and with so many maidens having targeted you, we are going to need to approach untangling this strategically…"

Nate stared at the fox questioningly, before nodding in understanding, and the two began to plan…

* * *

Nate sat nervously in his seat, glancing towards the new kid who had walked into the class, who smirked at him and gave a thumbs up. '_How do these yo-kai keep getting their transfer student records going so fast… it doesn't matter I suppose. Hope he knows what he's doing…_'

"Yet another transfer student? What in the world is going on?" Mr. Johnson muttered to himself, before his expression quickly returned to a happy smile, "Well, why don't you introduce yourself, young man?"

The blonde boy smirked as he glanced around the class, his eyes briefly falling on Nate, whom gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned, before speaking, "Hello everyone, my name is Kyubi Kitsune, and I am very pleased to make all of your acquaintance!" his eyes gleamed as he glanced around the class, "Particularly the various, lovely young ladies I see before me…"

A few of the girls in class glanced in the new boy's direction at that comment, but the general reaction wasn't what Kyubi was expecting/hoping.

"Hmph, I remember _this guy_," Alex muttered with a slight amount of contempt evident in her voice.

"Yeah, didn't expect to see him again," Katie responded with a blink, not picking up the irritation in her friend's voice, with more confusion in her own.

At the sound of Katie speaking up, Kyubi glanced her way and momentarily froze, his face heating up slightly, '_H-Her!? S-She's in this class… NO!_' he quickly shook himself out of his flustered state, '_Remain cool, Kyubi. You are the master of hearts here, not that girl! You don't fall for girls; you get girls to fall for you!_'

"What's with this guy?" Meg questioned with a frown, "Something about him rubs me the wrong way…"

Nate blinked, looking back at Meg questioningly.

Meg noticed her crush looking at her and gave him a cute smile and a wink.

Nate blinked again, before looking away, a slight blush on his face, and confusion in his head, '_Why does Meg already dislike Kyubi…? This isn't good._'

"I have a bad feeling about him," Shelly commented quietly as she looked at the newest student warily.

Nate's eyes widened, looking at the shy girl, "Huh!?"

"He seems kind of like a jerk," Lulu huffed.

"You don't know the _half_ of it," 'Hanako' grunted from her seat behind the brunette girl.

Mark looked confused as he turned to the ghost girl, "You know him…?"

"Somewhat, unfortunately," Toiletta scoffed, crossing her arms.

"He seems like the kind of guy who would try to get a bunch of girls to fall for him, just because," Fubuki commented with a critical look her eyes, "I don't like people like that."

Nate was starting to feel a panicking feeling at how negatively all the girls were reacting to Kyubi, and before he had even done _anything_!

Kyubi himself seemed oblivious to the disdain that was building towards him amongst the majority of the female students, his eyes still focused on Katie as he tried to keep composure, before he took a deep breath and held a confident grin as he walked over to a take the seat behind the disguised Chatalie, and next to Sarah.

Sarah looked away from the human-formed fox yo-kai as soon as he took his place at her side, but he didn't seem to notice the intention of the action and just kept his grin.

"I'm sure we'll all get along from here on out," Kyubi stated calmly, closing his eyes and leaning back in a relaxed manner.

"Man, he really seems full of himself…" Maya commented from her seat with a slight growl.

'_This is very bad…_' Nate thought with a gulp as he heard more girls muttering their displeasure with their newest student.

Kyubi didn't notice any of this, too relaxed in his own assurance of how things were going to go, '_Don't you worry Nate, that little harem won't bother you anymore after today… since they'll be my harem!_' the disguised fox let out a slightly devious chuckle, unknowingly causing even more annoyed looks to be sent his way…

* * *

'_Alright, where do I begin…?_' Kyubi grinned as he walked through the lunchroom, getting a good look at the different girls in the area, and how they still seemed primarily focused on Nate. '_Don't you worry Nate, your 'harem troubles' are about to end–_ 'the disguised yo-kai's thoughts were cut off when he bumped into someone. "Oof! Sorry!"

"Oh, it's okay," the ponytailed girl shook her head, before she noticed who it was that had bumped into her, "Hey, it's you!"

Kyubi froze up at the sight of the girl before him, having not expected to run into _her_ again so soon…

"… Kiwi, right?" Katie offered a sincere smile.

Kyubi was momentarily flustered, but it quickly gave way to a frustrated expression, "It's 'Kyubi,' not 'Kiwi!'"

"Oh, right, sorry," Katie chuckled.

"Come on Katie, let's leave this guy be…" Sarah muttered, both her and Alex standing near their friend, giving Kyubi the stink-eye.

"Hmm…?" The disguised fox yo-kai looked slightly confused, '_I remember those two, they were head over heels for me last time we met! Why do they look so ticked off!?_'

"Let's go, I don't really care to hear any more of this guy's lines," Alex scoffed, turning in the direction of the table where Eddie, Bear and Nate were seated, a slight tint of red came to her face as she smiled, "I know a much _better _guy I'd rather speak to right about now…"

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more," Sarah voiced, glancing towards Kyubi with annoyance one last time, before following the tanned girl in moving towards the other table.

Kyubi just stared in stunned silence…

"Er, sorry about that, I'm not sure why they're acting like that…" Katie chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure whatever it is, it can be worked out. See you later," the ponytailed girl waved as she moved to follow her friends.

Kyubi watched Katie leave, his eyes wide and a small blush appearing on his face, before he quickly shook his head to make it disappear. The fox yo-kai's eyes narrowed as he gained a thoughtful expression, sitting down at a table, "This might be harder than I thought. It should have been as simple as showing up to have that 'harem' of Nate's to abandon ship and flock to me, but that's clearly not the case… I'm clearly going to need to put a bit more effort into this than I originally intended…"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Kyubi jumped a bit, before looking to the source of the voice.

Lucas gave a blank look back from his position seated across from Kyubi.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Kyubi gave a glare and pointed at the other boy, "You heard _nothing_!"

"Whatever," Lucas just sounded disinterested as he started to eat his lunch.

Grunting with a bit of frustration, Kyubi stood up from the table and turned his focus towards the one which most of the girls were attempting to occupy.

'_Whatever Kyubi's doing isn't working at all…_' Nate thought with worry, nervously eating his sandwich and trying not to pay attention to any of the girls crowding him.

"Anyone else think that new guy's kind of got a weird air about him…" Eddie suddenly questioned, scratching his head contemplatively.

"**YES!**" all the girls, aside from Katie and Shelly, loudly voiced in agreement, startling the boy.

"Huh, I know the guy comes off a bit as a creep, but I didn't think there would be this much dislike from the outset…" Bear muttered while scratching his head.

"I… don't get it," Katie confusedly looked at the other girls, particularly Alex and Sarah. "I've met him a few times, and he seemed like a decent enough guy to me, what's with the all this hostility…?"

Nate's eyes widened and he gulped a bit, looking towards his crush nervously, "You… you've met him before?"

Katie blinked, before looking towards the boy with which she shared more than a few visual similarities, "Yeah, he was nice enough, though a bit weird…"

"Me thinks Kyubi had been trying to claim Katie's heart in the past," Whisper commented from above his master's shoulder, causing the yo-kai watch holder to gawk at his butler with an expression of horror and worry. "However, it seems that his efforts were futile; he was unable to get past Miss. Forester's density when it comes to romance…"

Nate let out a relieved breath at that deduction, before his expression turned annoyed as he gave his butler a side-glare, "Hey, what do you mean by 'dense?' Are you calling Katie stupid!?"

Katie blinked, "Um… nobody called me stupid, Nate."

"I think you're hearing things, man," Eddie voiced his concern.

Nate froze as he realized his outburst against Whisper had been heard by everyone at the table; and only the disguised yo-kai among the girls would have been able to see or hear with whom he was frustrated with, so he probably was looking like crazy person to most of his friends at that moment…

"Honestly Nate, you still need a lot of practice with_ thinking_ before you speak," Whisper criticized, a condescending smirk stretching across his face.

Nate growled angrily under his breath, before shaking his head, resolving to ignore his butler. The boy let out a calming breath, before glancing at the others who were giving him concerned looks.

"Nate… is everything alright…?" Shelly asked timidly as she crept up to his side.

"Well he may have been mistaken that anyone had insulted her… I do think it was nice that he was trying to protest against anyone who would do so," Meg an adorable smile as she stared at the boy, sparkles in her eyes. "That's just the kind of gallantry I'd expect from my Natey-kins!"

"I wouldn't really call that 'gallantry,' but I guess I'm happy my friends would defend me…?" Katie muttered under her breath, glancing away unsurely.

"Even if there was no target, the attempt at defending one of his friends from vocal assault just makes him all the dreamier!" Maya smiled brightly, putting her hands to her blushing cheeks as she giggled.

"Good thing there wasn't anyone _actually _calling Katie an idiot, 'cause I'd kick their butt, after Nate was done telling 'em off!" Alex stated with a confident smirk, raising a fist up to emphasize her point.

"Um… thank you too, Alex?" Katie still looked unsure of everything but gave her friend a bit of a smile.

"You know, my _psychic powers_ are telling me that there might have been more to Nate's outburst than meets the _eye_…" Satori gave a sinister grin as she subtly looked in Whisper's direction.

"… I know you won't respond to me, for the sake of appearances, but I would just like to say; I _don't_ appreciate the creepy way you're looking at me, Espy," the yo-kai butler muttered with a slight shiver.

'Satori' let out an eerie giggle, turning her focus from Whisper and onto Nate, sending the boy a quick wink.

Nate tried very desperately _not_ to show any response to the disguised mind reader's gesture…

"Well, I'm sure if there was someone here that actually did call dear Katie an 'idiot,' Nate here would swiftly deal with them," 'Natalie Kuchidake' smirked widely as she shifted from a position near a corner of the table, managing to sneak into a spot next to the boy in question, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey!" Nate jumped a bit in surprise, prompting the disguised bigmouth yo-kai to remove her arm.

"Eh, sorry sweetie," the human-form of Chatalie giggled a bit, before looking towards the rest of the table's occupants with an eager grin. "Well you know; just the other day, Nate and I were at the park, enjoying a nice day out, when some jerk came up and started hitting on me!"

"Wait, we did _what_…?" Nate gave a blank look, even if he was used to Chatalie's tall tales by now.

The short girl continued as if Nate had not said anything, "Nate here was very upset, and I mean _very_! He was like 'hey, that's my girl! Buzz off!'"

"I'm fairly certain I've never said that…" Nate muttered, mostly to himself.

"So, that guy was pretty determined to put the moves on me, but when a verbal threat didn't work, Nate went and– "

"BE QUIET! NOBODY BELIEVES YOUR LIES!" the disguised djinn twins suddenly shouted, popping up behind Chatalie and yanking her away from Nate, putting a stop to the fabricated story.

"Hey, I was just getting to the best part!" the bigmouthed yo-kai shouted, flailing her fists about as the twins continued to drag her away from the table, towards the other side of the cafeteria.

"… Where _are_ they going?" Eddie gave a quizzical look.

"To take out the _trash_, hopefully," the taller Natalie grunted, surprising some of the other surrounding girls.

Nate considered saying something in 'Natalie Kuchidake's' defense, but before he could, his and the rest of the table's attention was caught by the appearance of someone else walking over.

"Good day, Nathan," Kyubi gave a polite boy as he stepped towards the table, "To you as well Edward, Barnaby…" the disguised fox gave his best charming grin as he looked at whom else occupied the table, '_So many lovely hearts, prime for the collecting…_' "And an especially fine hello to all the beautiful ladies I see before me!"

'_Kyubi, what took you so long!?_' Nate thought to himself, just barely missing the pointed look 'Satori' sent his way. '_STAY OUT OF MY HEAD, ESPY!_'

Unfortunately, much like in the classroom, the reaction to Kyubi's appearance from the girls was nothing like either Nate, or Kyubi were hoping for.

"Gah, and _more trash_ appears," Natalie scoffed.

"Why are you so _nasty _today…?" Maya squinted her eyes at her friend, before she glanced Kyubi's way and frowned, "Though… I can agree on the displeasure with _this_ appearance…"

"Uh, this is the kind of fan I don't look forward to dealing with once I'm a popstar!" Meg raised her arms up dramatically. "Well, those, and the ones who will inevitably be sending my Natey-kins death threats… but I'll have people to _deal with_ them…"

"Seriously, I thought we ditched him earlier…" Sarah whispered to Alex.

"I know, I don't want to deal with _this guy_," Alex whispered back.

"Hmph, I really hate arrogant guys, this guy screams arrogant," Lulu grunted with an irritated look.

"Lulu, I'm not an arrogant guy, am I?" Bear asked his crush with a hopeful tone.

Lulu blinked, giving the blue-clad boy a friendly smile, "Oh, of course not Bear! You're really nice, that's why we're friends!"

"R-Right… friends…" Bear nodded, the hopeful look drooping a bit, before he sent a subtle glare Nate's way.

"I don't have to read this guy's mind to know what he's thinking about," Satori stuck out her tongue in disgust.

'_What's with all this out-of-nowhere HATE!?_' Nate, Kyubi, and surprisingly; Katie, all internally questioned as they gawked at the female's various comments.

"G-Guys, Kyubi's my friend, you shouldn't jump to conclusions about him," Nate tried to defend the disguised fox.

"Don't be fooled Nate, he strikes me as the kind of guy who's only trying to use you for his own benefit…" Shelly spoke quietly to the boy, though it was loud enough for Kyubi to hear.

The fox yo-kai flinched, a slight look of guilt crossing his face, but he quickly shook it off before anyone noticed.

"Natey-kins, you're sweet, but you don't need to defend this guy," Meg shrugged. "I can tell he's just interested in getting girls to fall for him to boost his ego!"

Kyubi flinched again, more visibly.

"Come on, I think you're being a bit rude," Katie interjected to the defend the fox as well, "yeah; Kyubi kind of gives off the air of one of those arrogant rival characters from a romance anime– "

'_THAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU THINK TO COMPARE ME TO!?_' this time, Kyubi looked as if someone had punched him in the gut.

"–But he's a good person, I can tell!" Katie finished, oblivious to the affects her words had on the disguised fox.

Despite his initial reaction, Kyubi couldn't help but go a bit red at Katie's insistence that he was a 'good person…' as well as a bit more guilt.

"Excuse me, but I need to take this guy away for a bit, hope you don't mind!" an irritated Hanako appeared behind Kyubi, from seemingly nowhere, the short girl nearly hissing as she gripped onto Kyubi's sleeve.

"Hold on, what!?" Kyubi looked bothered by this turn of events but didn't struggle much as he was pulled along by the other yo-kai.

"Hanako…" Nate mumbled a bit as he looked towards the bathroom dweller, but a glare sent his way shut him up.

"Not now," the ghost girl spoke bluntly, before she continued to drag the disguised fox off.

Nate let out a miserable sigh as he sunk in his seat, "It's official; she hates me…"

"Well at least _one _girl does…" Bear muttered under his breath, only for him to get hit over the head by Eddie, "Ow! Hey!"

Eddie just glared at his friend, before giving his best sympathetic look to Nate, "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

"She was like this yesterday, what did you do to make her upset anyway?" Katie questioned carefully.

Nate's face turned a slight shade of red as he lowered his head, "I don't think it was so much something _I_ did as… actually, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Was it something that had her calling you a 'pervert' and slapping you?"

"She didn't say 'pervert' but…" Nate paused mid-sentence, before he turned to stare blankly at the purple-haired girl standing behind him with a smirk on her face. "Hailey, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you've done screwed up, Mr. Harem Protagonist!" the self-proclaimed 'otaku' chuckled, sticking her tongue out in a teasing manner.

"I'M NOT A HAREM PROTAGONIST!" Nate shouted in protest and frustration, slamming his fists onto the table.

A prominent silence filled the air after the boy's exclamation. The various girls around the table all glanced awkwardly at each other and Nate, a few giving coughs, while Eddie and Katie looked to be somewhere between trying not to say anything, and keeping Bear from saying something…

"And the silence has it!" Hailey cheered enthusiastically.

"NO!" Nate countered in outrage.

* * *

"Okay, spill it; what are you up to!?" Toiletta's eyes narrowed as her yo-kai aura flared, glaring up at the disguised fox yo-kai.

Kyubi gave a huff, crossing his arms and looking away from the ghost girl, "What's with the accusatory tone? I'm merely enjoying the life of a normal human student." the kistune smiled as he shrugged. "I don't see what the problem with that is; you've all been doing the same, after all."

Toiletta let out a small growl, keeping her glare on the taller yo-kai.

Kyubi frowned at the look the other yo-kai was giving him, before it changed to a charming smile, "Come on, surely a lovely girl like you has better things to do than question innocent little me?"

Toiletta was unmoved, "Do you really expect that to work on me? I'm wise to your games, _fox_!"

In response to Toiletta's reaction, Kyubi gave slight snarl, revealing a set of sharp teeth, "Alright, you want to do this the hard way? Fine! But I'm not going to let you get in my way, not when I have the chance of gathering this many hearts!"

"Hearts, you say?"

The calm voice of an adult male halted the argument between the two yo-kai, they looked over to see the science teacher, Mr. Barton, whom walked between them and stood with a small smile on his face, "You two should really be careful what you say in public, you never know who might be listening…"

The two yo-kai simply stood in silence for several moments, staring at the man with reservation.

After a few moments, Kyubi decided to speak, "Um… what exactly did you hear…?"

Mr. Barton gave a slightly amused chuckle, continuing his way through the hall and giving a nonchalant wave, "Nothing that surprises me," and without another word, the man kept walking, disappearing at a turn in the hall.

Kyubi and Toiletta stood in silence for a few more moments, seemingly having forgotten their previous argument.

"Who… was that guy," Kyubi finally questioned, trying to process the _odd_ feeling he had gotten from the man.

"He's just the science teacher," Toiletta didn't sound so sure of her own answer…

Silence settled between the two once more, neither seeming sure of what to say.

"Look, just don't do anything stupid," Toiletta gave a huff. "It won't go how you think it will if you do; and I guarantee that!" after that word, the ghost girl turned to leave.

Kyubi gave a slight growl, before he also left the hall.

Footsteps faded to silence, leaving the hall empty… until the sound of the bathroom door creaking open sounded.

"Well… that was certainly _interesting_," Zoey commented with a smirk.

"It was weird, whatever they were talking about, but it's not nice to spy on our friend, Zoey," Lina voice her discomfort from behind the other girl.

"It's for the good of everyone," Zoey insisted.

Lina gave her friend an unconvinced frown.

Zoey sighed, "Look, Hanako's clearly hiding something, and that new guy's pretty shady too! So, we should keep up the investigation!"

"I'm still not sure…" Lina kept her frown, before tilting her head a bit at the other girl, "Hold on, what about Mr. Barton?"

"What about Mr. Barton? He's the science teacher," Zoey dismissed without a second thought.

Lina stared at her friend for a couple seconds, before shrugging, "If you say so…"

"I do say so!" Zoey insisted, before grabbing Lina by the wrist, "Now come on, before someone catches us creeping around!"

Lina didn't protest as her fellow Ghost Club member pulled her out the door and down the hall.

* * *

The bell that signaled the end of class had rung, and Kyubi was feeling rather frustrated; despite all his efforts, _none_ of the girls in class seemed interested in him, and he didn't understand why!

Growling a bit, Kyubi pulled himself up from his seat as the other students started exiting the class, before he noticed a girl which he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed earlier! Smirking to himself, the fox stepped forward, '_I'll get this one, for sure!_'

Stepping over to the blue-haired girl, Kyubi gave a bow and held out his hand, "Hello there miss, might I offer to walk a pretty thing like yourself home?"

"Hmph, as if you someone like you could even hold a candle to Nate!" Fubuki scoffed, turning her nose up and away from Kyubi. "Not likely! My father warned me of all the potential sleezy guys out there, and now I see why!"

"S-Sleezy!?" the color drained from Kyubi's face as he nearly fell over in shock from the harsh insult.

"Honestly, if it weren't for Nate and my other friends at this school, I would probably ask my parents to return me to homeschooling in response to this attempt at harassment!" Fubuki gave a bit of a shiver as she refused to look at the newest transfer student.

Kyubi's pupils shrank as he shakily got back to his feet, reaching out a hand, "N-Now hold on, I wasn't trying to– "

"Hey, leave Fubuki alone!" Andy suddenly shouted, as he, Daniel and Mark all jumped between the blue-haired girl and disguised fox.

"She said no! So, _go_!" Mark insisted firmly.

"We won't let anyone lay an unjust hand on the lovely Fubuki! She is an **angel**, and_ scum_ like you has no right to even breath in her _**general direction!**_" Daniel shouted in an over-the-top manner.

Kyubi could only step back, not expecting this sort of backlash, or the level of worship these boys seemed to put on this 'lovely little lady,' though something of their comments bothered him more than it _probably _should have, "W-Wait, now I'm 'scum?' Wasn't 'sleezy' bad enough!?"

The fox yo-kai's questioning went ignored by the other three boys, as they maintained their blockade formation while turning focus onto their 'princess.'

"Fubuki, are you alright!?" Andy asked frantically.

"Oh, my dear friends, thank you for protecting me!" Fubuki wiped a single tear from her eye as she sent the three boys a loving smile of gratitude.

Andy, Mark and Daniel's eyes all turned to hearts as their expressions turned lovestruck, "A-Anything for you, our GODDESS!"

Kyubi could only sweatdrop at the way the three boys were fawning over the girl, "_Wow_… some guys are _really_ pathetic…"

"Tell me about it," Lucas commented in a dull tone.

"Gah!?" Kyubi jumped, before glaring at the black-haired boy who was standing a few meters behind him, "Would you get out of here!?"

Lucas shrugged, before walking off.

"Natey-kins! Walk home with me, please!"

Kyubi twitched as he glanced over to the other side of the room and let out a bit of a growl at the sight of Nate surrounded by Meg, Maya, Shelly and Alex.

"Meg, please let go…" Nate tried to pull his arm free from the embrace of the pigtailed girl.

Maya smirked as she grabbed his other arm, "Yeah! He wants to walk with me!"

"Na-ah!" Meg shook her head in protest.

"Ah-ha!" Maya nodded.

"Come on, let's all go to the park and have fun together!" Alex offered, raising both hands in the air enthusiastically, "Then Nate, if you want, I'd be open to you walking me home." The tan girl threw in a wink for good measure.

"I, um… would feel safe if Nate walked with me," Shelly smiled shyly.

"Nate!" Kyubi suddenly yelled, stomping over to the boy and glaring at him, "This is your fault, Nate! The plan is failing because– "

"Hey, don't yell at Nate!" Alex snapped before Nate could that Kyubi had been yelling at him.

"Yeah! Nate didn't do anything to you, so you better not be a jerk to him!" Meg growled protectively.

"Or we'll kick your butt!" Maya added.

"Y-Yeah…" Shelly nodded, timidly glaring at the fox.

Kyubi flinched at all the hateful looks he was getting, both from the four girls before him, and, as he soon noticed, all the other girls in the room! "H-Hold on, this is just a misunderstand– "

"Nate, will you please walk home with me!?" Brooke from Class 5-1 suddenly exclaimed as she charged into the room, a prominent blush on her face.

"No, he should walk with me!" Lily exclaimed energetically as she popped up from behind her shorter classmate.

"No, me!" Leslie cheered as she pushed pass the other two 5-1 students.

"Oh man…" Nate groaned, feeling a headache coming on.

Kyubi gave a frustrated growl as the girls continued to pour into the room, and continued arguing amongst themselves, before his eyes opened wide and he shouted; "THAT'S IT!" with one swift movement, the disguised fox yo-kai charged forward, grabbed Nate by the hand, and ran out of the room.

"HEY!?" all the girls shouted in protest, but the duo was already gone…

* * *

Amy brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt before clasping her hands together, looking towards the school with a big small, and a light tint of red on her cheeks, eagerly waiting for her crush so that she could have another attempt at their 'date…'

It wasn't long before she spotted him coming forward, giving no mind to the other boy that was pulling him, Amy raised a hand and eagerly called, "Nate! Hey, Na– "Amy gasped in surprise when the boy pulling Nate zoomed past her.

"Sorry Amy!" Nate called out, even as his voice faded into the distance.

"… Oh man, not again," Amy sighed in disappointment, before she noticed something else; her skirt had become wrinkled again!

* * *

"What are you DOING!?" Kyubi shouted at Nate, after having dragged him into an alleyway for some privacy. "You're ruining the plan!"

Nate stepped back from the enraged fox yo-kai, "I… I don't understand, how am I 'ruining the plan…?'"

"Yes, and might I add; _what_ 'plan!?'" Whisper interjected, popping up from seemingly nowhere, but was left ignored.

"Nathan, I may have underestimated the power of this 'harem' of yours, but you need to play your part too!" Kyubi explained harshly. "If you want the girls to stop being interested in you, having me there isn't enough! You're going to need to be a jerk!"

"Jerk…?" Nate looked disturbed by that idea, "But… I don't want to lose my friends, Kyubi, I just want things to go back to normal!"

"Too bad!" Kyubi huffed, stomping a foot on the ground as he glared at the human boy, "Your usual persona of 'average nice guy' is too lovable to them, for some reason, so you're going to need to give a new one a try! Like an 'arrogant jerk' type of persona, can you do that?"

"I…" Nate looked unsure.

"Nate, I don't know the full of what's going on, but I would advise you not to listen to this nine-tailed miscreant!" Whisper shouted urgently.

"Buzz off butler-ghost!" Kyubi snapped.

"I will not 'buzz off!'" Whisper protested, only to real back in fear as a fireball zoomed past him, "On second thought, maybe I'll 'buzz off' a bit…"

Kyubi huffed, turning his focus back to Nate, "It's your choice Nate, but you can't have it both ways; either be a jerk, or be stuck with the harem forever!"

"I…" Nate's expression fell as he gave a sigh of defeat, "I'll… I'll try…"

Kyubi gained a smirk as he stepped forward, patting the boy on the shoulder, "Good, you're making the right choice bud! Soon, this will all be over…"

Nate didn't look too comforted by Kyubi's words…

Unknown to the group of one human and two yo-kai, another yo-kai was spying on them from just outside the alleyway; a small, humanoid yo-kai resembling a little girl, whom usually would be associated with bathrooms…

And unknown to that yo-kai girl, she was being spied on by two human girls, whom would be described by many of their classmates as a bit 'spooky…'

* * *

Nate gave a tired sigh as he stepped into his room, shaking his head as he put his backpack down, and prepared to head back down to maybe watch TV until dinner was ready.

"Hello, Nathan…"

"Gah!?" Nate jumped, not expecting to find Toiletta sitting on his bed, staring at him.

"Nya…" Sailornyan meowed in her sleep.

Toiletta stroked the nekomata's head lightly, inciting a purr, before she got up from the bed and stepped over to Nate, keeping an unblinking stare on him, "So, Nathan, where have you been lately…? Spoke to anyone interesting?"

"Um… I…" Nate took a step back, his expression one of unease, before he remembered what Kyubi had said… and took a deep breath, "I, um… what's it to you… dummy?"

Toiletta just kept staring at Nate, her expression was unimpressed.

Nate gave a fake cough, putting on his best 'mean face' (which didn't look very mean, more uncomfortable…), "Y-Yeah, you're a dummy… and you smell like the toilet!"

"I dwell in bathrooms, I'm _supposed _to smell like the toilet," Toiletta stated bluntly. "So; thank you for the compliment."

"Well… I…" Nate looked to be at a loss for words. "You… dummy…?"

"No," Toiletta denied. "Nate, just admit it; you can't do this."

"I… have no idea what you're talking about," Nate pulled at the collar of his shirt nervously.

"I saw you talking to Kyubi, Nate. And even if you_ could_ manage to be enough of a jerk as the fox told you to, this little plan of yours _still _wouldn't work!" the ghost girl explained with a scoff.

Nate gave an annoyed sigh, "And how can you be so sure of that?"

Toiletta's eyes suddenly started twitching, before she lunged forward and grabbed a startled Nate's shirt and looked him in the eyes with a harsh glare, "Because; _I_ see you pulling junk like this stunt with Kyubi, and _I'm still in love with you_!"

Nate stared at Toiletta with wide eyes filled with shock and disbelief, before his face turned red as he realized their noses were touching…

Toiletta's face turned red as well, before she quickly jumped back and shook her head, "Anyway, your failure to be a jerk, when you _want _to be, aside; you shouldn't be listening to Kyubi, he's just trying to feed his own ego by taking over your 'harem,'" the bathroom-dwelling ghost stated firmly.

"I don't even _want_ a 'harem!'" Nate pointed out with an annoyed grunt.

Toiletta signed, crossing her arms, "What you 'want' isn't a factor here. What's happening is happening, and you can't just help Kyubi manipulate girls!"

"She's right, Nate!" Whisper enforced as he came floating into the room, and around the conflicted boy. "Besides, do you honestly think acting like a jerk will give any positive results?"

"Well…" Nate sighed in defeat, looking unsure of what to do. "No, I guess not…"

Toiletta remained firm in her stance, "You need to stop this planning with Kyubi! He's not interested in helping you, and deep down, I'm sure you know that!"

"He's still my friend, I don't want to think that badly of him…" Nate muttered while looking away.

"If he is your friend, then that's even more reason to call him out when he's acting scummy, and not to indulge him!" Toiletta's tone turned more serious as she kept staring at the boy.

Nate didn't look like he knew what to say in response to that.

Toiletta sighed, floating past the boy and out the door. "Just think about it, Nate… I'll see you downstairs," she gave a bow, before returning to walking as she moved down the hall.

Whisper looked like he wanted to say something, but seeing the troubled look on his master's face, he decided to stay silent to leave the boy with his thoughts.

Nate moved over to his bed and sat down, stroking the fur of the sleeping Sailornyan, his troubled expression unchanging as he thought about what he should do…

* * *

The next day Nate left the house without a word to Toiletta, and barely any to his parents, an unsure look on the boy's face as he walked along the path to school with his yo-kai butler…

"Nathan, there you are," Kyubi, in his human disguise, smiled as he walked up beside Nate. "So, have you thought up some good lines for your new persona? Some harsh ones hopefully! Today, you need to start breaking hearts!"

Nate flinched a bit at Kyubi's eager tone, before he stopped in his tracks, "I…"

"… Nate?" the disguised fox gave a questioning look as he also stopped.

"I…" Nate took a deep breath. "Kyubi, I don't want to do this anymore!" he finally shouted, before letting out a defeated sigh and drooping a bit.

The fox yo-kai blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst, his eyes narrowing a bit as he processed it, "What…?"

"I don't want to be a jerk to anyone, I'm not even sure if I can… and despite what troubles I've been having with them, I don't want to manipulate any of the girls," Nate explained, letting out a few calming breaths. "I'm sorry, it's my fault for even agreeing to this plan. But I just can't do this…"

"You…" Kyubi's eye twitched as he slowly approached the human, "_You_…" something in the fox yo-kai's mind seemed to snap, and he started chuckling, "You were just trying to show off, weren't you…?"

"Huh…?" Nate blinked in confusion.

"You want to keep all the girls, their hearts, to yourself, don't you!" Kyubi snarled, revealing a mouth of sharp teeth, "Mr. 'Harem Master!'"

Nate looked fearful for a moment, but stood his ground, "I… I'm not in control of the situation, but… it's not right to manipulate the girls, just so I can have a break from this 'harem' nonsense! It's wrong!"

"Yeah, you tell 'em Nate!" Whisper suddenly popped up, cheering through a megaphone.

"Wha!?" Nate was thrown off by the volume of his butler's cheer. Rubbing his ear, Nate glared at the ghost, "Whisper, warn me before you do that…"

"I see…" Kyubi's eyes narrowed. "It seems I'll have to put you somewhere safe where you can't interfere, until I've solved the problem!" in a burst of smoke, the fox yo-kai returned to his true form, rising up with a dangerous gleam in his eyes and fire forming in his hands.

"Um… I don't believe this is going to go as smoothly as you thought," Whisper commented nervously.

"You think!?" Nate hissed at the butler, before gulping a bit at the sight of Kyubi's dangerously approaching form. The boy reached for his pocket to grab a medal, but a blast of fire flew past him, halting his attempt as he dodged.

"I think now might be a good time to run," Whisper suggested with a blank look.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Nate's expression mirrored his butler. Without another word, the two sped off as quickly as they could.

"Oh, running? That won't help you, Nate. I said I'd help you, and I definitely will…" Kyubi gave a sinister chuckle as a fiery aura surrounded his body, and he gave chase, tossing fireballs at his target along the way.

Nate and Whisper kept fleeing as Kyubi continued to chase them, throwing fireballs all along the way. Eventually the duo ended up being chased up Mt. Wildwood, and towards a familiar tree…

"Don't be afraid Nate, I'm not going to hurt you… severely…" Kyubi held two fireballs in his hands as he continued his slow and menacing approach. "I just need to put you somewhere out of the way until I can finish changing those girls' minds."

"Nate! Now would be the time to summon a yo-kai!" Whisper shouted in a panic as he shook his master by the shirt.

"I can't! He keeps throwing fireballs every time I try!" Nate pushed the ghost off him, giving a fearful look towards the approaching fox, backing up a bit more.

"_Feed me!"_

"Huh…?" Nate blinked at the familiar demand, turning to look at the Crank-a-Kai, an idea quickly formed in the boy's head.

"Come on Nate, just come quietly, there's nothing you can do to stop me…" Kyubi hissed as he kept creeping closer.

"_Feed me! Feed me!"_

Nate took several steps back, towards the Crank-a-Kai, before he quickly turned around sprinted towards the machine, pulling a coin from his pocket, "Please be someone helpful!"

"Nate!?" Whisper looked shocked as the boy put a coin in the Crank-a-Kai and started turning the nob.

Kyubi seemed more annoyed than anything, "You playing with that little machine, Nathan? I know yo-kai are trapped in that thing, but if you think anything that comes out of there could possibly help– "

Nate ignored Kyubi as he snatched the black capsule that fell out of the machine and pried it open, resulting in a cloud of dark smoke obscuring the vision of all three present.

Kyubi growled through the smoke, "Hey! Didn't I just tell you it's pointless to–wait… this energy, it _can't be_…" the fox yo-kai's voice seemed to turn to one of dread, almost out of nowhere…

When the smoke cleared, the form of a new yo-kai became clear; she looked nearly identical to Blizzaria, aside from her color scheme; dark purple hair and eyes, black clothing, and paler skin. She had an emotionless expression as she glared at the petrified fox, before she glanced down at Nate. "You!"

"Huh…?" Nate jumped a bit at the aggressive tone of voice the newly freed yo-kai spoke to him with, "Um, y-yes…?"

The 'dark Blizzaria' floated over to the human boy and stared at him for a moment, "… You are the one whom freed me, correct?"

"Y-Yeah… that was me…" Nate nodded timidly.

"Um, this yo-kai…" Whisper was sweating a bit as he started swiping through the Yo-kai Wiki, his eyes nervously darting to the newly freed yo-kai as he did so.

"Damona…" Kyubi's fearful voice gave the answer before the ghostly butler could finish in his search.

The new yo-kai turned at the name spoken, giving the fox yo-kai a pointed look, "That is correct, kitsune, I am Damona."

**Charming Tribe: Damona**

"So, tell me… is the kitsune bothering you?" Damona questioned Nate, her eyes narrowing as she focused on Kyubi.

"I-I-I…!" Kyubi seemed to have been reduced into a stuttering mess under the glare of the newly released yo-kai.

Nate wasn't sure what to make of Kyubi's fear; the fox yo-kai almost always had an air of confidence as far as the boy could remember knowing him, but this 'Damona' seemed to strike terror into Kyubi from simply looking at him…

"I'LL SEE YOU AT SCHOOL, NATE!" Kyubi suddenly shouted, turning tails and fleeing from the scene.

A glint crossed Damona's eyes, dark energy starting to swirl around her, "I will not let an enemy escape so easily…"

Nate's eyes widened as he realized what the Blizzaria-lookalike was planning to do, "Wait, stop!"

"Stop…?" despite there being no change in tone, there was an inflection of confusion to Damona's tone as she halted in charging her attack, looking down at the human boy questioningly, "That kitsune was threatening you, wasn't it? Why would you not want me to destroy its physical form?"

"She's certainly… intense…" Whisper couldn't help but mutter, only to cover his mouth when Damona's eyes fell on him.

Nate bit back a shiver, before he took a firm step forward, bringing Damona's attention back onto him, "He was… going a bit nuts, yeah, but he's my friend. I don't want you to do anything to hurt him, he… I'm sure he'll calm down once he's had time to think!" Nate shook his head, giving a sigh, "Thank you for putting a stop to that, but scaring him off is good enough."

Damona eyed Nate emotionlessly, stiffly floating towards him in a manner which resembled a marionette suspended by invisible strings.

Nate subtly gulped as sweat started to form on his brow, keeping his stance firm as the humanoid yo-kai looked him over.

Whisper was slowly and carefully backing away from the scene…

Damona soon came face to face with the human boy, staring him straight in the eyes for nearly ten seconds, before she suddenly looked away and sighed, "Fine, I won't go after him…"

Nate released a breath he didn't know he was holding, his posture loosening a bit, "Thank you, Damona…"

"Do not thank me… actually do," Damona frowned, crossing her arms and giving an expression that almost looked to be a pout, "I've been crammed in there for so long and I really wanted to let out some steam!"

Whisper quickly moved back over, whistling innocently, before pulling out his yo-kai pad, "Let's see, Damona… Damona…"

Narrowing her eyes, Damona quickly moved over to the butler and snatched the yo-kai pad out of his hands.

"HEY!?" Whisper cried out in protest.

"What is this…?" Damona growled slightly as she tried to work the device, her expression growing more frustrated as she tried to figure it out. "Grr, it's not working!" she roared before tossing it aside, "Garbage!"

"NO!" Whisper dived in, grabbing the yo-kai pad before it could hit the ground, holding it close to himself protectively as he glared at Damona, "It is _not _'garbage!' Just because you've been stuck in there for who knows how long and don't know how to use it doesn't mean it doesn't work!"

Damona just scoffed, before turning her attention back to Nate, "Anyway, thanks for releasing me from that cramped capsule, I suppose," with a shrug, Damona held out her yo-kai medal, "So, you want to take my medal?"

"T-Thanks, I'd be… happy to accept your medal," Nate nodded carefully, taking the medal from the intimidating yo-kai's hand and pocketing it.

"I'm not sure if you should trust this one, Nathan…" Whisper crept over to Nate's side and spoke quietly.

"And who are _you _supposed to be to give him that sort of advice," Damona spoke dangerously, seemingly appearing right behind Whisper.

Both Nate and Whisper jumped back in shock, before taking guarded stances against Damona.

Damona rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again, "Really?"

Whisper shook his head, before moving in front of Nate and giving Damona a determined look, "I'll have you know that who_ I_ am is a butler! A top-class butler, and as a top-class butler; it is my duty to keep my master safe and well informed!"

"Then why don't you usually _do that_?" Nate muttered under his breath.

"Butler…?" Damona seemed to be giving Whisper a critical look, before a small smirk crept onto her face, "Well… not the best I've seen, but I suppose that's better than nothing. Having a butler at all is nothing to sneeze at, so I'm impressed, considering I was expecting nothing!" Damona chuckled a bit as she drifted through the air, moving over to Nate's other side and taking a lounging position in midair.

"Um… thanks?" Whisper looked unsure of how to respond to the new yo-kai's words.

Nate just scratched his head with confusion, before shaking it, "Well… thanks again, Damona. I'll try not to summon you arbitrarily. Come on Whisper, I still need to get to school," Nate gestured for his butler to follow him as he started walking back the way he had come here. "Hopefully Kyubi will have calmed down a bit by the time class starts…"

"Yes, you do not want to be late," Whisper spoke in agreement with the boy, giving a hasty bow to Damona before he followed, "We bid you goodbye miss, we will see you again… whenever."

Damona's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the two leave, before she seemed to blink out of existence, reappearing in Nate's path, "Now hold on a moment!"

"Wha!?" Nate jumped back in surprise.

"Good heavens!?" Whisper nearly screamed, "What in the world are you doing, jump scaring us like that!?"

Damona ignored Whisper, putting all her focus on Nate, "You can't just leave like that, not without us settling things properly!"

Nate took a step back, giving Damona an unsure look, "Settling things…? Settling _what_ things?"

Damona's smirk returned, wider this time, as she let out an almost sinister chuckle, grabbing one of Nate's hands and looking him in the eyes, "Well for starters; our engagement, _Honey_!"

The immediate moment that followed Damona's declaration was one of complete silence, it even seemed as if the birds and bugs had ceased creating any noise to add to the ever-expanding silence…

The next moment was nearly the opposite, with the exclamation from both Nate and Whisper seemingly echoing for miles; "**ENGAGEMENT!?**"

* * *

Kyubi gave a breath of relief as he reached the base of Mt. Wildwood, shifting into his human disguise as he began heading towards school, ignoring the shout that sounded from behind him.

'_Damona, he released __**Damona**__…_' the fox yo-kai thought with dread, his face pale with dread, '_Now there's no way I'll be able to remove him from the picture for any amount of time! I need to find another way to get the girls to dislike him long enough for me to– _' Kyubi stopped in his thoughts as he made the turn into the schoolyard, finding a short ghost girl blocking his path, "Oh… hello, _Hanako_."

Toiletta glared at the disguised kitsune with clear disdain in her eyes, "I'm going to be direct with you, Kyubi; knock it off!"

"Knock _what_ off?" Kyubi grunted, giving the lower ranked yo-kai an annoyed look.

"You_ know_ what!" Toiletta growled, her hands balling into fists, "Nate's too soft to tell you off, but I'm not! Stop trying to turn Nate's harem into yours! It won't work, and it's pathetic!"

Kyuby stepped back a bit at Toiletta's fierce tone, but quickly recovered and bit back, "And why should you care!? You're just another one of Adams' harem girls anyway!"

Toiletta's face reddened a bit, but she kept a firm stance, "Well; I'd much rather be in Nate's harem than yours, considering at least I know Nate won't try and manipulate me!" the bathroom-dwelling ghost started floating until she met Kyubi's eye-level, a dark aura swirling around her.

Kyubi snarled, his ears and tails popping out from his disguise as he started to exert his own fiery aura, "You know you stand no chance against me, toilet girl, so why don't you just get out of the way and let me _thin out_ your _competition_?"

Toiletta didn't move from her spot, her glare unchanging.

Kyubi gave an annoyed growl, getting ready to blast the weaker yo-kai out of his way, before he noticed two forms out of the corner of his eye; Insomni and Sandi, both glaring at him and exerting auras of their own. Kyubi clenched his fists angrily; he may have been able to easily defeat Toiletta, he could probably take out the A Ranked Insomni as well, if she weren't also backed by her _S Ranked_ sister…

Toiletta smirked, seeing the troubled look on Kyubi's face, "Getting by us not going to be as easy as you thought, hm?"

Kyubi gave a low growl, a fireball forming in his hand, "This is a bigger hassle than I would like, but if I have no choice, I'm sure I can take you all out!"

"If you're that arrogant, then put 'em up!" Toiletta exerted more dark energy as she floated up higher.

Insomni and Sandi looked ready to jump in and fight as well.

A loud feminine gasp filled the air.

The four yo-kai paused, realizing that gasp did not come from any of them… slowly, Toiletta and Kyubi turned their heads, and saw one Katie Forester…

Katie put a hand to her mouth as she stared at the floating girl leaking dark energy, and the boy with fox ears and nine fox tails surrounding by an aura of fire, and a fireball in hand. The human girl took a single step back, not taking her eyes off the strange sight… before she decided to voice her confusion; "_**WHAT!?**_"

* * *

Well, chapters done, tell me what you think if you want to. See you next time I manage to finish another bit of this nonsense I call a 'story!' :D

The bit at the end with Damona is a very deliberate reference to amf studios' story 'Damona in the Details. Expect other references and shared ideas between our stories, since we've been, and still are, discussing and sharing Yo-kai Watch fanfiction ideas.

On the next 'episode of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' "Hey, Katie here, and I just want to know; WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!? Hanako's floating! Kyubi has fox ears and tails! And I'm sick of having no clue of what's happening around me! I better get some answers soon, or I'm going to snap! And–hey, what's with this weird watch…?"

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **Life is Weird!**


	10. Life is Weird!

**Chapter 10: Life is Weird!**

* * *

"_**WHAT!?**_"

Katie's shout seemed to echo in the ears of the present yo-kai several more times than it should. While Insomni and Sandi were still unseen by the human girl, both Toiletta and Kyubi were in rather hard to explain positions, and neither knew what to say.

Katie just kept staring at the short girl as she slowly drifted back to the ground, the aura around her fading, before focusing on Kyubi; his tails and ears vanishing in puffs of smoke.

"K-Katie, um… nice to see you," Kyubi offered with a weak smile, waving a hand.

"Y-Yeah… here, outside of school…" Toiletta tried her best to give an innocent smile, putting both hands behind her back and shuffling her feet on the ground.

Katie said nothing, she just kept staring at the two transfer students, no words coming out of her mouth, and her shocked expression unchanging.

"So… um," Kyubi spoke again, glancing to the side awkwardly. "Did you just catch our little… magic act practice? Yeah, right Hanako!" the disguised fox lightly jabbed the shorter yo-kai in the arm with his knee.

"Ow," Toiletta let out a low hiss, gripping her arm while glaring at Kyubi, before forcing a smile as she looked back at Katie, "Y-Yeah, that's what we were doing… we've been planning a magic act for a bit now… we knew each other before Kyubi transferred in by the way!"

"Right, in case that's a bit confusing," Kyubi nodded quickly. "We've wanted to do a magic show. Do you like our tricks… the part where Hanako floats, and I make fake fox tails and ears appear… along with fire? Huh?"

Both Kyubi and Toiletta let out some awkward chuckles, which died down as they realized the human girl still wasn't reacting.

"… Katie?" Kyubi's expression and tone gained a tint of worry.

"Katie, you there…?" Toiletta's expression started to mirror the fox's.

"… Is she dead?" Insomni suddenly questioned as she and Sandi drifted over.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Katie suddenly shouted, breaking the silence and causing the four yo-kai to flinch. "KYUBI! HANAKO! EXPLAIN! _**NOW!**_"

Kyubi let out a nervous cough, "W-We just said– "

"_**NO!**_" Katie seemed to be at her wits end. "THERE'S SOME CONNECTION HERE! THE HAREM! THE WEIRD AMOUNT OF MID-YEAR TRANSFER STUDENTS! AND YOU GUYS!" the brunette girl let out a frustrated scream as she pulled at her hair, before giving the transfer students a glare with wide, bloodshot eyes, "TELL ME WHAT THE HECK IS _**REALLY GOING ON!**_"

The yo-kai were all at a loss for words (even Insomni and Sandi, though Katie wasn't talking to them, and couldn't see or hear them), Kyubi and Toiletta glanced at each other unsurely, then back at Katie.

"The, um…" Toiletta gave a small cough of her own, "The 'harem' is actually unrelated, we're not sure what that's about…"

"Oh yeah we're not…" despite his nervousness, Kyubi seemed a bit annoyed at the reference to the 'harem.'

Katie's eyes narrowed at the deliberate dodging of her questions, "I _don't care_ if it's related or not!" she hissed, grinding her teeth together out of frustration. "I have had it up to _here_ with not knowing what the heck is going on! I want answers, _**NOW!**_"

Kyubi and Toiletta took a step back in shock at the, usually friendly, girl's tone.

"Um… well we'd love to explain but… hey! Shouldn't we be getting to class soon!?" Kyubi quickly glanced down at Toiletta.

"Y-Yeah, we wouldn't want to be late!" Toiletta nodded her head quickly. "We can, uh, continue this discussion later, Katie!"

"Yup, w-we'll see you in class, Katie! BYE!" Kyubi waved as he and Toiletta sped off and towards the school's entrance.

Insomni and Sandi nodded to each other, invisibly floating away from the scene to find an unseen spot to assume their human forms and head to school.

Katie tried to stop 'Hanako' and Kyubi from getting past her, but they were too quick, leaving the frustrated and confused girl no less frustrated _or_ confused than when she had stumbled onto them in their strange states.

Feeling all her negative emotions coming to a head, Katie let out another scream, grabbing at her hair once more, even pulling a few strands straight from her head. After her scream faded, Katie's posture slumped as she let out a few heavy breaths, her face still twisted by frustration and anger, with several strands of brown hair visible in her clenched fists…

"Hey Katie! Wanna walk to class togeth– "Sarah spoke up as she and Alex came walking up to their friend, only to freeze when Katie turned to look at them with a crazed glare. "–er…?"

"I… think we'll see you at class?" Alex offered in a nervous tone.

Sarah nodded along with Alex as they both backed up, before turning to the building, "Y-Yeah, see you at class…"

Katie let out a few more low growls as she watched her friends enter the school, before shaking her head. '_Alright, they didn't deserve that, I'll need to remember to apologize…_' the ponytailed girl couldn't help feeling a bit of guilt over her reaction to Alex and Sarah, but her frustrated look was quick to return. '_Still… something's going on around here, something that Hanako and Kyubi are connected to! And I __**will**__ get some answers!_"

Feeling a wave of determination, Katie gripped the straps of her backpack tightly, before marching towards the entrance to school…

* * *

Back on Mt. Wildwood, by the Sacred Tree, where the Crank-a-Kai was based, both Nate and Whisper had not yet gotten over their shock over what the newly released yo-kai; Damona, had recently declared…

"I… I'm sorry," Nate shook his head, giving Damona a blank look, "But, I think I must have misheard you; did you say we were en-engaged…?"

Damona smirked, floating over to Nate while nodding her head, "That's what I said!"

Nate kept his blank expression, "'Engaged' as in… engaged to be m-married…?"

Damona rolled her eyes, "Yes, are you going to ask any _more_ questions with obvious answers, dear, or was that it?"

"I-I'm just trying to wrap my head around this!" Nate paced a bit, glancing down at the ground, then back at Damona, "When exactly did we get engaged?"

"Yes, I don't recall young Nathan agreeing to such a thing!" Whisper interjected, but a glare from Damona sent him reeling back in fear.

Damona kept her glare on Whisper for several seconds, before turning back to Nate, smiling again, "You accepted my medal, did you not?"

"Um… yes?" Nate wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

Damona chuckled a bit sinisterly, "Well then; there you go! You accepted my medal, thus; we are engaged!"

Nate's eyes slowly widened at this declaration, "W-Wait, hold on! I've accepted many yo-kai medals before, and it's never been– "

"Most of the time a yo-kai offering a medal is a sign of friendship, or respect, yes," the Blizzaria lookalike did a twirl in the air as she floated around Nate a couple times, "But, you could say this time wasn't exactly a normal medal offering…"

Whisper's eyes widened, as if he had just now realized something, "Wait a minute… you don't mean– "

"Of course, I do!" Damona interrupted, turning to Whisper with an evil grin. "I can see from the look in your eyes that you have some… personal experience. I'm supposing that's how my fiancé here got you to be his butler?"

"Whisper… _what_ is she talking about?" Nate was sweating from nervousness, feeling overwhelmed from the idea that he had somehow accepted an engagement to this rather _scary_ yo-kai he had released from the Crank-a-Kai…

"Well, um, you see Nate…" Whisper nervously tapped his fingers together as he glanced between the human boy, and the intimidating yo-kai. "Remember when you released me from the Crank-a-Kai, and I told you I was indebted to you, and would become your butler…?"

"Yeah…" Nate nodded slowly.

"That's… not exactly the _only_ way a yo-kai can repay the debt to the one that released them…" Whisper finished, glancing at Damona with a frightened squeak.

"That's correct, and while I could offer the servant roll, I will not suffer being someone's maid!" Damona huffed in disgust at that idea. "You should be happy; I offered you quite the boon instead! Not every boy can say they're engaged to a princess!"

Nate gawked, "Wait, you're a _princess_!?"

"Surprised?" Damona gave a small, devious giggle as she twirled around her new fiancé.

"Hold on, I didn't agree to this, and I'm too young to be engaged, and– " Nate was desperately trying to think of ways to get out of his new engagement, but his yo-kai butler quickly appeared in front of him and shushed him.

"Nate, I would _highly _advise you to not try and get out of her offer," Whisper hissed quietly, his eyes fearfully darting to Damona as he did so.

Nate gave his butler a strange look as he backed up a bit, before whispering back, "What do you mean, Whisper? I don't _want_ to get married to her, can't I just let her go free?"

"Nate, as far as the laws of the Yo-kai World are concerned, you already accepted her proposal as soon as you took her medal," Whisper's voice held a tone of urgency, even as he tried to keep it low. "Refusing it, once you've already accepted it, would… not end well for you…"

"What… do you mean…?" Nate wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"You know; I can hear everything you both are saying! Damona suddenly announced, startling the duo, inciting a chuckle from her, "You weren't as quiet as you seemed to think you were!" quickly, Damona moved over to Nate's side and patted his shoulder, "And what you're butler says is correct! It's official now; you are betrothed to me, and any attempts to get out of it will… put some _penalties_ on your afterlife, to say the least…" the dark-haired princess let out a few sinister cackles to emphasize her point.

Nate felt a shiver run down his spine at both the way Damona spoke, and the implications of what she said. In an instant, Nate felt all his plans for a future with Katie shatter; of marrying her, having two kids, growing old together, all gone because of this _evil_ creature that floated before him…

"Though… if you are going to be engaged to Nate, there may be a few problems; namely, the harem…" Whisper pointed out.

Nate snapped out of his miserable state and gave his butler an unreadable expression; he wasn't sure if the ghost was trying to help him or not but mention of 'the harem' felt like the last thing he needed at this moment. The human boy nervously glanced towards his new 'fiancée' nervously, but surprisingly found she seemed unbothered.

"So, my husband-to-be has a harem, does he? Hmph, no matter," Damona shrugged dismissively. "Marrying me means you become king of the oni; you can have all the additional wives you want!" her eyes narrowed, "So long as you remember that_ I'll_ be your 'main' wife, and queen!"

Nate froze up, a bit too focused on one part of his fiancée's sentence to process much else, his face slowly being overtaken by a bright red glow as his eyes widened, '_A-All the… __**WIVES **__I WANT!?_'

* * *

_The sun shined brightly over a luxurious palace, in the throne room King Nate was happily hugging both his queen and second wife._

"_Oh, my king, I love you so much…" Queen Damona cooed lovingly, nuzzling her hair against her husband's cheek._

"_Me too, Nate; I love you too!" Katie smiled brightly, pecking the man on the cheek and letting out a happy, affectionate sigh._

_King Nate just chuckled as he pulled the two women closer, hugging them tightly, "I love you both too! I don't know how my life could get any better than this!"_

_Damona and Katie both giggled at their king's exclamation, before they kissed both his cheeks at once._

"_Oh, Nate, when will it be my turn to snuggle?" another of King Nate's wives; the ever-lovely Isabel, called out longingly._

"_I too would very much like to spend some time with you, my beloved king," Amy looked as gorgeous as ever as she sent an affectionate smile her husband's way._

"_Don't worry ladies, I haven't forgotten you. Just be patient, I'll happily snuggle with all my beautiful wives!" King Nate exclaimed brightly as he lovingly stroked both Damona and Katie's hair, while they rested their heads against his chest. "I just love all of you so, so– "_

* * *

'_No, no, no, NO! BAD! __**VERY BAD!**_' Nate hit himself over the head with a surprising amount of force, shattering that imaginary vision to a billion pieces. '_My future is with Katie, and only Katie! Katie as my wife, and not as some 'secondary' wife! Just Katie… and maybe, if I could somehow get them to agree, Isabel–__**NO! JUST KATIE!**_'

Damona stared at her new fiancé, raising a brow as she watched him hit himself over the head and pull at his own hair, before she glanced towards the butler, "Is he alright…?"

"In my experience; no," Whisper answered bluntly.

Damona regarded the yo-kai butler with a look of disinterest for a few more moments, before she turned back to her fiancé–who still seemed to be trapped in his own little world–and started floating over to him…

'_Katie, just Katie! You must remain strong, Nate! You can't be tempted by this demonic creature! Even if Isabel is really pretty–NO! –but Amy is kind of cute too–NO! NO! STOP! YOU CAN'T BETRAY–_ "Nate was snapped out of his frantic internal struggle by a sudden pull on his shirt, "Huh?" he turned to Damona, only to receive a sharp slap to the face, "OW!? WHY!?"

"Knock it off!" Damona hissed, not an ounce of sympathy in her tone. "You accepted my medal, now quit being a crybaby and take responsibility!"

Nate winced as he rubbed his red cheek, '_That was the __**same**__ cheek Toiletta slapped a couple days ago…_' shaking his head, Nate managed to glare at his 'fiancée' defiantly. "Responsibility!? I _released_ you!"

"_And _accepted my medal!" Damona countered fiercely. "You're my fiancé, _**deal with it!**_"

Nate was ready to argue further, but he was interrupted as his butler flew over to him with a concerned look.

"Nate, I know this hasn't been the most… pleasant turn of events for you, but might I remind you that school should be starting soon?" Whisper pointed out, crossing his arms.

Nate blinked, before his eyes widened, "Oh man, you're right Whisper! I'll never make it to school if I try to run back!"

Damona huffed as she watched the boy panic, before shaking her head, "You really are a _child_, aren't you? Calm down and tell me; where is your school?"

Nate looked a bit surprise by the female yo-kai's question, "Um… just down the stairs up to the shrine, you can't miss it."

Damona nodded, her expression not changing from one of bland annoyance, "Fine!" she flew over to Nate and put her hands around him.

"W-Wait, what are you doing…?" Nate's face turned red as he was picked up bridal-style.

"Getting you to school," the dark princess answered in an unchanging tone. "It would not do for my fiancé, and a future king, to be lacking in his education!" floating up a bit higher while she kept her hold on the boy, she glared at him, "Don't squirm, or I can't guarantee I won't drop you!"

"U-Understood…" Nate nodded slowly, his face glowing bright red and his expression dazed.

Damona nodded again, before flying off into the sky, with the intent of getting her fiancé to school…

"Wait, Nate! You left me behind AGAIN!" Whisper shouted after the departing couple(?), before giving a huff and quickly flying after them.

* * *

Class had concluded for the day, and the students were abuzz with chatter as they exited the classrooms. Among the students was a rather frustrated Katie, scanning the crowd of her fellow students as she walked out of the building…

"Darn it!" the ponytailed girl growled; all throughout the day, whenever there was an opportunity to try and continue her interrogation, both Kyubi and Hanako managed to evade her! Even now, she couldn't get a glimpse of them; they had escaped! "DARN IT!"

"Katie…?" Eddie spoke up, walking up to the girl along with Bear, Alex and Sarah. "Are you okay…?"

Katie looked like she was about to yell at the boy, but stopped herself, giving a long sigh, "I… I'm fine, guys… just need to go let off some steam…" shaking her head, the brunette girl marched off, leaving her friends confused.

Unknown to any of the departing students, there was someone watching them. A girl was obscured by shadows as she stood under a tree, a bit of sunlight shining through the trees and gleaming on her long blond hair. Despite her position being clearly visible, none of the students seemed to notice her. The girl watched Katie as she departed, a small smirk forming on her face…

* * *

Nate let out a long sigh as he trudged along his way home, both an irritated Whisper, and a disinterested Damona, following closely behind him.

"Honestly, Nathan, you really need to stop leaving me behind! What with everything that's been going on lately, you need me now more than ever!" Whisper ranted as he kept pace with the boy.

Nate did his best to tune Whisper out, turning his focus to the dark-haired princess, "Damona, I know you were spying on me all day…"

Damona raised a brow, "Spying? I never hid myself from you, so I'd more call it simply watching over you."

"Still, I couldn't help but notice how you seemed to glare at all the girls that approached me…" Nate pointed out with a skeptical look.

Damona huffed, crossing her arms, "Those girls were far too forward with you, they need to know their place below me before they can think of courting my fiancé!"

Nate resisted arguing against the title of 'fiancé,' simply giving an annoyed groan as he continued walking.

"I don't appreciate that reaction, _dear_," the oni princess hissed in a dangerous tone.

Whisper had given up on his ranting when he realized nobody was listening, and was now looking between Nate and Damona nervously, "Um…"

Damona turned her glare Whisper's way, "You have something to say, _butler_?"

"N-No, nothing to say here!" Whisper quickly denied, waving his hands, before quickly moving to set himself in a position that set Nate between him and Damona.

"Look, I know a lot of the girls at my school are… overzealous but keeping an eye on me 24-7 isn't necessary!" Nate assured in a firm tone of voice.

"I don't need to watch you '24-7,' just when you are interacting with other girls," Damona countered in a blunt tone.

Nate gave a louder groan.

"Nate!" the cry of Toiletta came from behind the trio.

The human boy turned to see the bathroom-dwelling spirit quickly walking down the same sidewalk as him, before she reached him with a relieved sigh, "Hanako, where have you been? Every break period you were gone!"

"It's a long story," Toiletta muttered with a sweatdrop and a tired groan, "Let's just go home and…" the female yo-kai paused when she noticed a yo-kai she wasn't exactly familiar with, glaring at her… "Um, I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Damona," the yo-kai princess answered harshly, "Nathan released me from the Crank-a-Kai… now he is my fiancé!"

Toiletta nodded slowly, seemingly needing a moment to process the information… before her eyes widened and her expression turned to shock, "Wait, WHAT!?"

"Oh no…" Nate shrunk away from the females, already seeing this wasn't going to end well, Whisper wasn't far behind him…

"You heard me…" Damona hissed as she looked Toiletta up and down with a critical eye, "_Now_ you tell me, who are you…?"

"I'm Toiletta, I live with Nate," the ghost girl answered, giving Nate's new 'fiancée' a hateful glare.

"You do? Are you another _servant_?" Damona sneered, a mocking tone to her voice.

"Servant!?" Toiletta looked outraged at that idea, one of her eyes twitching as she kept glaring at Damona.

Both Nate and Whisper fled the scene before they could see how this argument would end, as both knew it wouldn't be something they wanted to be around for, regardless of what happened next…

* * *

Katie stepped into Downtown Springdale's arcade with a frustrated grunt. She had only briefly stopped home after school to alert her mother that she was going to head down to the arcade (to which her mom had given her some money, which was nice of her…) before she headed straight down to the game filled hub, intent on letting out all her pent up frustration on the various forms of digital entertainment.

The young girl surveyed the area; the arcade was abuzz with activity from various kids and teens, which was normal of this time of day. School had just gotten out, and many often liked to wind down after with some games at the local arcade. Katie herself had come down on occasion with her friends, but this was the first time she had chosen to come here by herself, in recent memory.

'_Of course, I don't really want to talk to anyone right now…_' the brunette gave a frustrated grunt as she walked past several unfamiliar kids, heading past the area where the various prize machines were set, and heading to the game cabinets were set up. '_I'm tired of being looked at like I'm crazy! I just want to kick some digital butt!_'

"Yeah, take that!"

Katie blinked at the sound of a familiar voice, before glancing over at the girl who seemed to be intensely focused on the screen of the 'Hyper Bash Family' arcade game, "Amy?"

"Oh, hey Katie!" the pigtailed girl only gave the younger a brief glance, before all her focused returned to the game, "Come on Adlez, we can do this!"

Katie's frustration was momentarily overwhelmed by curiosity as she stepped over to the older girl, looking over her shoulder as she saw her precise control of the 'ethereal princess' character 'Adlez,' in order to defeat the boss character of 'Mega Reswob…'

"Up attack, side attack, shield…" Amy spoke to herself with an intense expression as she directed her character to fight against the boss, until it finally struck the finishing blow…

"**GAME!**" the voice of the announcer blared through the speakers.

"YES!" Amy cheered, throwing her arms into the air as the credits started to play, "If Toiletta thinks she's going to beat me next time, she's got another thing coming!"

"Um… Toiletta?" Katie muttered to herself with a confused look.

"Oh, Katie!" Amy spoke as if she had only just now realized the other girl was here (even though she had already greeted her), turning to face her with a slightly nervous look, "You… heard that?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry…" Katie gave an awkward smile. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but… did you say 'Toiletta,' as in… the urban legend?"

"Uhhhh…" Amy looked rather nervous as her eyes darted back in forth. "Er, no, you must have misheard, I said, uh…"

"Amy, the others have already left. How long are you gonna keep us waiting!?" a girl the same age as Amy, with short brown hair and blue eyes, called out as she stood by the exit to the arcade.

Amy was quick to take the out, "Oh! Sorry; coming Mana!" she quickly gave an apologetic, yet somewhat relieved smile, to the younger girl, "Sorry Katie, but I've kept my friends waiting long enough." With a nod, the pigtailed quickly ran over to the other girl.

"Finally," Mana rolled her eyes as she walked out of the door with Amy. "Miyabi texted me and said she and the others went ahead to Sunset Mall, it shouldn't be too hard to catch up, but why were you so determined to beat that boss?"

"What do _you_ do when you go off into the forest by yourself?" Amy shot back with a teasing grin.

"That's a _secret_," Mana chuckled as the door closed behind them.

Katie stared after the older girls for a few seconds, before shaking her head and recalling _why_ she had come here in the first place, regaining her frustrated frown. Glancing towards the 'Hyper Bash Family' cabinet, before deciding she'd rather play a different game.

Glancing over the potential choices, Katie didn't notice someone creeping up behind her…

'_A round of 'Alley Combatant 2' sounds like it would be good for–_ "

"Hi!"

"AH!?" Katie quickly swirled around to come face to face with an awkwardly smiling girl, about the same age as her.

"Um, sorry…?" the girl gave a bit of a chuckle.

"I, um… it's fine," Katie shook her head, giving the girl a quick look over, Katie didn't recognize this girl from anywhere; she had long blond hair that went down to her waist, and seemed to spike out in the sides of the portion that trailed down her back. The girl's skin had a slight hint of a tan, and she had bright gold eyes. Her attire was a black shirt with green stripes on the arms, and a long white skirt.

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you, I wanted to be friendly is all," the blond girl shuffled a bit, her expression turning slightly embarrassed, before holding out a hand, "Let's start over! My name's Emma Daiouji, and I just moved here! It's nice to meet you!"

Katie looked at the hand with a slight bit of suspicion, before shaking it off and giving a friend smile, taking the hand with her own, "It's nice to meet you too, Emma, my name's Katie Forester, and let me be among the first to say; welcome to Springdale!"

"Thanks," Emma giggled as she shook the other girl's hand, the awkwardness she had felt from their initial meeting seemingly faded. Emma turned her focus to the game cabinet Katie had been looking at, "Say, how about we play a bit of Alley Combatant 2 while we get to know each other?"

"Well, if you don't mind that I need to let off some steam," Katie warned as she stepped over to one side of the game.

"Hey, no problem here; I'll happily be your punching bag," Emma gave a good-natured wink as she took the other side. "But that doesn't mean this punching bag won't punch back!"

"Well, that's a challenge I think I can take up!" Katie shot back with a chuckle, already feeling some of her frustrations being alleviated via her banter with this friendly girl.

Both inserting coins into the machine to start the game up, both girls selected their characters (Katie: the flaming martial artist, Nek. Emma: the beastly humanoid, Aknalb) before they started up the match.

"So, do you go to Springdale Elementary?" Emma questioned as she opened with a combo to try and catch her opponent off-guard.

Katie saw the combo coming and blocked in time, before quickly hitting some button combinations in retaliation, "Yeah. Let me guess; you're transferring?"

Emma's character suffered some hits from Katie's counter, but she managed to pull out and get in some good hits herself, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Well… let's just say we've been getting an unusual influx of transfers lately…" Katie frowned a bit as the reasons of her current frustrations came back to mind, regaining her game mindset quick enough to pull out of the way from one of Emma's attacks, before pulling off a tornado kick, knocking her opponent's health down a good bit.

"Huh, really? That's a bit strange, I suppose," Emma admitted, hitting buttons rapidly to try and pull off a super attack.

"Well, it's not the strangest thing that's been going on lately…" Katie muttered, glancing away, but not stopping in her button presses, managing to get Nek up and close to Aknalb and deplete the remains of his health, ending the round in her victory. "There's a lot of weird things going on, and I know there are people hiding things from me, but I don't know what! And of course, nobody believes me when I try to talk about it; everyone looks at me like I'm a conspiracy theorist or something!"

Emma pressed the button that confirmed her desire to continue to the next round, before looking at Katie with a sympathetic smile, "What sort of 'weird stuff' are you talking about…?"

Katie pressed the button as well, starting up the second round, looking at her new friend with a reluctant sigh, "Well… I don't know, you seem nice Emma, I want to tell you, but… I really don't want _another_ person looking at me like I'm crazy…"

"Try me, you'd be surprised the kind of stuff I believe," Emma spoke in an assuring tone, letting out a light laugh as she moved the joystick and hit some buttons to open up the new round with a quick combo.

"Well…" Katie still looked reluctant, blocking the attack in time, before hitting the buttons to attack, "Okay… I… I need to talk to someone, I suppose…"

"So, what's up?" the blond tilted her head curiously, hitting the controls to block her opponent's attacks, before beginning the input of another combo.

Katie released another sigh, beginning the input of a command for her character's super move, "I don't really know where to begin, I suppose there's the… harem…"

"Harem?" Emma blinked in confusion, blocking the super attack from depleting all her character's health.

"I don't know if it's related, but… one of my friends; Nate…"

"_Nate_…?" Emma's eyes flashed with familiarity at that name.

Katie didn't seem to notice the other girl's reaction as she continued, "I don't know what happened, but suddenly all the other girls at our school have become obsessed with him… it's not like he's not cute, and he's a nice guy and all, but he's always just been seen as… not to insult him or anything, but; kind of average…"

"Hmm, I see…" Emma nodded, directing her character for a few swift attacks on her opponent.

Katie's character suffered hits from the first couple attacks, but she managed to get blocking the remaining ones, before launching a counterattack, "Yeah, I don't get it… even my friends can't explain it to me; they just like him now… but you know, I could accept that being the end of it, but…"

"But…?" Emma questioned, speeding up her button input to try and gain the upper hand in the fight.

"But, that's not the end of it," Katie grit her teeth as she sped up her own button input to keep up with her opponent. "We started getting all these odd transfers–no offense–and the number of students per class was suddenly expanded! That's not normal, right!?"

Emma narrowed her eyes, managing to pull off a super move that depleted her opponent's health to zero, and gave her the victory for the round. "No, I don't think that's normal, and no offense taken! It is a pretty sudden transfer but moving here was pretty sudden too!"

Katie nodded in understanding, hitting the button to continue to the final round, "Yeah, but nobody else seems to think much of it! And then, some of the transfer students, um…"

Emma hit the button to continue as well, giving the brunette an odd look at how she had suddenly stopped, "What is it?"

"I… we just met Emma, but… I like you, you're nice, and I… _really _don't want you to think I'm crazy…" Katie's expression fell, releasing the controls to the game cabinet.

Emma looked at her new friend with sympathy, hitting the pause button on the match and moving away from her side of the machine, and over to Katie's, "You don't have to worry about that, Katie; I've seen a _lot_ of weird things in my life, I guarantee you; there's _nothing_ you can say that would make me think you're crazy!"

Katie still seemed reluctant, but seeing the assuring smile on Emma's face, she released long sigh, before giving in, "I saw one of the transfer students _float_ into the air, and then fly through a _closed_ window! Like she was a _ghost_ or something!" Katie's exclamation had some of the other random arcade occupants, but she didn't care, "And-and, I saw her floating again, and some kind of weird aura coming off her, while she was confronting this guy, I _thought _I knew, while he had like… nine fox tails sprouting out of his back and ears out of his head!"

"Really…?" Emma seemed intrigued.

"And then-and then; they tried to play it off as if nothing happened and avoided me all day! But I saw it, nobody believes me! But I saw it; something's going on here!" Katie clutched her head as her breathing turned heavy, "Not to mention one of the other transfer students can _read minds_, and she doesn't even try to hide that! There's something familiar about her, but I don't know what! And, and– "

"Katie, Katie," Emma put a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder, showing her a friendly smile to calm her down, "It's alright; I believe you!"

Katie stopped in her ran, giving the blond a surprised look, "You… you do?"

Emma nodded in confirmation, "Yes; I admit, it all sounds kind of strange… but as I said; I've seen some pretty strange things myself! Nothing you told me is unbelievable!"

Katie just stared at the other girl in shock for several seconds, before her eyes started to well with tears. Katie felt as if a giant weight had just been lifted from her shoulders; Emma didn't think she was crazy, she_ believed_ her! She had seen stuff like this before…

"Katie… are you alright?" Emma looked concerned as she noticed the tears that had started to trickle down the brunette's cheeks.

"Y-Yeah, just… I need a couple seconds," Katie sniffled a bit as she wiped the tears from her eyes, before giving her new friend a grateful smile, "Thank you, Emma… I really hope when you transfer in, it's to my class… even if that's unlikely, considering how many transfers our class has gotten."

Emma let out a little giggle, "Hey, from what you told me, that wouldn't be the _strangest_ thing to happen lately."

Katie started to giggle along with the other girl, all signs of tension or stress seemingly evaporating into the air.

The two girls ignored any strange looks passersby sent their way as they shared their moment of laughter and levity, they continued in their giggling for a few brief moments that felt much longer than they actually were. Eventually the laughter died down, a little bit at a time, and the duo of elementary school students were left just standing and smiling at one another.

"Thanks, Emma, I _really_ needed that!" Katie admitted, wiping a single laughter-induced tear from her eye.

"Hey, you're the first friend I made since I came here, Katie; you ever need anything, I'll be there for you!" Emma smiled widely, giving a wink and a thumbs-up.

Katie returned the smile, giving a thumbs-up of her own, "And you can expect the same from me!"

The pair of kids shared another quick giggle, before moving back over to their respective sides of the arcade cabinet.

"So, you ready for me to beat you at this game?" Emma questioned with a smirk as she gripped the joystick and placed two fingers over buttons.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Katie smirked back at her new friend, before hitting the button to un-pause the game.

Emma and Katie's match would continue for a few minutes, before it eventually ended in a draw with a double knockout, which had both girls laughing once more. After that, the two would continue to try out some more games, either competitive, or cooperative, and near the end took some pictures in the photobooth.

"That was really fun, Emma," Katie spoke thankfully, standing near the front of the arcade with the other girl, holding her copy of the photo sheet they had taken, which displayed pictures of; the two smiling at the camera, sticking their tongue out, laughing, and winking.

"I had fun too, Katie, I'm really happy I met you!" Emma cheered, holding her own copy of the photo sheet, "I hope we see each other in school soon, though I've gotta go now!"

Katie smile almost immediately vanished, "What you do…?"

Emma kept her smile, but sent the other girl an apologetic look, "Yeah, sorry. I probably spent more time here than I was supposed to as it is…"

"You're kidding…" Katie let out a disappointed sigh at the idea of her new friend leaving, but eventually gave a smile in return, "I get it, I spent a while here too… this was really fun, let's do it again sometime." The brunette looked thoughtful for a moment, before an imaginary lightbulb sprung up over her head, "Oh, I know!" the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a device, "Do you have a cellphone?"

Emma's eyes lit up a bit, catching on to what her friend was thinking, "I do!" the blond reached into her own pocket and pulled out her phone.

The two shared another giggle as they exchanged numbers.

"Now we can call each other any time!" Katie cheered as she re-pocketed her phone.

"I'll be sure to give you a heads up before I show up at your school," Emma nodded, putting her own phone away, before grabbing something else out of her pocket and handing it to Katie, "Here!"

Katie looked confused at the coins she had just been given, "Money…?"

"I think you should try that claw machine out before you leave, I've got a good feeling about it," Emma smiled, gesturing to the machine stationed behind the other girl.

Katie gained a troubled frown, holding the money towards her friend, "Emma, I can't accept this. You don't need to give me anything!"

"I want to!" Emma insisted, her bright smile remaining as she pushed Katie's hand back, "I want to give you something Katie, you were so nice to me, and I had so much fun with you! Please, you deserve it!"

"But…" Katie stared at the money in her hand, unsurely, but when she looked back up at the blond, she was already halfway out the door.

"Please, use it on the claw machine, Katie!" Emma exclaimed while waving a hand. "I'll see you later!"

"W-Wait, Emma!" Katie tried to call out to the girl, but she was already out the door, the brunette quickly followed after, looking around, "Hold on, Emma, I… I…?" Katie paused as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking back and forth; there were many people walking about, but no sign of her new friend, "Emma…?"

Katie looked back and forth a few times as various people passed her by, but she could not spot Emma Daiouji anywhere. Katie let out a small sigh, accepting that she probably wasn't going to be able to catch the girl, and briefly considered trying to text her… before shaking that thought off, '_I shouldn't bug her so soon, she said she needed to go…_' the ponytailed girl looked at the money in her hand, and sighed, '_Well… I guess it would be rude not to do what she asked._'

Stepping back into the arcade, Katie's focus turned to the claw machine, she let out another sigh as she approached it, putting the coins into the slots, and starting up the game, '_Not sure why you wanted me to do this, Emma, it's nearly impossible to win these things any–_ ' Katie's eyes widened as she expertly maneuvered controls of the claw, almost as if something else was controlling her movements…

With little effort, Katie had positioned the claw over a singular item, and pressed the button to grab it. On the first grab, the claw gripped a hold on the small black box that had seemed like it was calling out to Katie, and brought it over to the drop off point…

The ponytailed girl nearly gasped in surprise when the sound of her prize being won hit her ears, '_I… guess it's not too hard?_'' she tried to rationalize her sudden prowess at the game, before quickly shaking her confusion away and reaching to claim her prize.

"Hmm… why did I want this anyway…?" Katie muttered to herself as she looked the black box over; it was a simple square box with a felt covering, she did notice a hinge… with a shrug the young girl opened up the box, and gazed at the item that lay inside. "Huh… a… pocket watch?" the girl questioned, setting the box on the claw machine's controls while she held up the watch, noting that it looked like it was attached to a necklace… "A pocket watch pendant…?"

Looking over the item, Katie couldn't help but feel like she had seen a watch similar to this one before… she also wasn't sure how it was supposed to tell time; there were no hands, numbers, nor a digital display; in fact… it looked like you were supposed to insert something into the face?

The main body of the watch was black, with shining gold flame patterns decorating the border, with the necklace part being bright red.

"What kind of a watch…?" Katie looked over the device for a few moments, spotting a couple buttons on the side, she pressed one and a light shined out from the watch, she let it go and it stopped. "… Weird," with a shrug, the brunette put her new pendant-watch around her neck…

* * *

Emma Daiouji happily skipped through the crowds of people walking about Downtown Springdale, nobody paying her even a single glance as she passed by them, as if the girl were invisible to them.

Coming up to the entrance to an alleyway, across the street from Fortune Hospital, and skipped along inside without missing a beat.

Coming up to the center of the alley, Emma glanced around briefly, smiling, before reaching a hand down her shirt. After a moment, the blond pulled up a watch attached to a necklace, very similar to the one Katie had obtained from the claw machine, however; Emma's was a bright orange color, with a pattern resembling pink cherry blossom petals decorating it, it also had seven yellow spike-like decorations attached all around it, giving the watch a sun-like appearance.

Reaching into her pocket, Emma pulled out a purple yo-kai medal, with a shadowed humanoid form depicted on it, before inserting it into the watch.

"**Calling, ENMA!**" the mechanical voice of the watched blared as the inserted medal started to light up.

Emma's smile widened as the glow from the watch started to rise, before forming a sort of holographic screen, from which the image of another person became clear.

"Emma?" the person in the holographic projection, who resembled Emma, but was male with red skin, pointed ears, and shorter spiked-up hair.

"Hello, Lord Enma!" Emma greeted with a quick bow, before sending him a proud smile, "Everything's going smoothly on my end, I even managed to find a human to give one of the watches to! She's really cool, and my first human friend!"

Enma seemed pleased, "That's great, Emma! You'll be happy to know that the paperwork to get you into Springdale Elementary should be able to go through soon, though…" the red humanoid frowned a bit, crossing his arms, "An odd amount of yo-kai seem to be doing that lately, so it's a bit harder to than it should have been…"

"Well, my new friend did mention an odd number of transfers, and supposedly 'human' students doing some very 'yo-kai' things…" Emma muttered thoughtfully.

Enma seemed to take this into consideration, "Hmm, alright; Emma, on top of your normal mission, I think it will probably be a good idea for you to keep an eye out for these 'transfers,' and the possible reasons behind them."

"Of course, my lord!" the blond girl gave another bow along with her diligent exclamation.

Enma chuckled, "Emma, we're family you know; it's not necessary to always refer to me in such a formal manner!"

"My apologies, Lord Enma, but that would simply be improper! At least out in public," Emma was quick to counter, keeping her good-natured smile.

"Well, was worth a try," Enma sighed, before gaining a serious look. "Did you spot your brother?"

"Yes, I believe so!" the blond girl nodded quickly, "I could tell it was him the moment I lay eyes on him, and I think he might have been able to see me too! I don't believe he knows who he really is, but he seemed well!"

Enma gained a relieved smile, letting out a small sigh, "Good, so long as he's safe…" the king of the Yo-kai World frowned again as he looked up thoughtfully, "Be sure to keep a close eye on him, it's not necessary to throw the truth of his origins over his head so suddenly, but if any of our enemies were to find out about him, he could be in great danger…"

Emma's eyes narrowed at that idea, giving another nod, "I understand, I'll make sure nothing happens to him!"

Enma's expression changed to a gentle smile in reaction to the girl's determination, "I know you will, Emma; you're his twin sister, after all."

Emma's expression wavered a bit, a slight flash of sadness crossing, "Don't worry… I'll protect him…"

Enma flinched, looking down, "Sorry, sore spot, I know…"

"It's fine, sire, you don't have to apologize," Emma was quick to smile again, before her expression turned curious, "But, what about the Yo-kai Master? Should we inform him of this matter, or my identity?"

Enma quickly returned to his dignified stance, "Nate is a trustworthy ally, that's for sure, but I don't think it's best to go revealing anything he doesn't _need_ to know now. We need to keep this matter as quiet as possible, so I'd say withhold on revealing anything to him unless it becomes necessary!"

"Alright," Emma spoke in an understanding tone. "I won't tell Nathan Adams anything for now."

"Good, Nate may be a trusted ally, but he is entangled with the issues of so many yo-kai that I can't guarantee telling him won't get them involved, and I'm not sure how many of _them_ are trustworthy," Enma let out a slightly wary sigh, before a sparkle seemed to cross his eye as he smirked, speaking in a teasing tone, "Of course, this may be for the best; you'll probably have a better shot at the 'Yo-kai Master' if he believes you're a human!"

Emma seemed taken aback by this sudden comment, her expression turning defensive as her cheeks took on a pink tint, "W-What, I wasn't thinking about… I-I don't even know him!" the blond girl shook her head rapidly, closing her eyes, "I just saw his picture and said I thought he was 'cute,' one time!"

"Sure, sure," Enma didn't sound convinced, keeping his teasing smirk. "And I suppose your decision to come here disguised as a human wasn't _at all_ motivated by those rumors that have been circulating the Kainet about how a certain 'Yo-kai Master' may be amassing a so-called 'harem…?'"

"I… have no idea what you're talking about," Emma scoffed, her blush brightening as she looked away from her relative, internally recalling what Katie had told her about the recent happenings at her school… "I have no interest in dating a human, Yo-kai Master or not, I'm only here to look out for my brother, and to find users for the Enma Watches!"

Enma just laughed at the bashful response from the girl who was both his 'aunt,' but also younger than him, "Don't worry, Emma. Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure it will all work out!"

Emma just pouted at the way her 'nephew' was teasing her, crossing her arms with a slightly annoyed look, her blush still prominent.

Enma gave another chuckle, before he shook off his amusement, his expression turning serious once more, "Don't get me wrong, Emma. I know, while you have a strong personal attachment to this mission, that you'll do everything you can to do your jobs. I have the utmost trust in you!"

Emma's annoyance lowered a tad at that admittance of trust, her frown turning to a grateful smile as her blush died down, "T-Thank you, Lord Enma… I promise, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Lord Enma nodded calmly. "… Say hi to the 'cute' Yo-kai Master for me!" the young king quickly added, his teasing tone returning, the hologram disappearing as the call was ended before Emma could respond.

The blond girl gawked as the glow from her watch died down, her blush returning in full force, "Y-You-You," with the subject of her ire already out of reach, Emma could only let out an angry scream, "KOUEN, YOU **JERK!**" almost immediately after that exclamation, Emma covered her mouth with a shameful gasp.

The female member of the Enma family quickly glanced around, making sure no yo-kai had heard her shameful outburst, or the use of the current Lord Enma's given name aloud. After she was sure nobody had heard, she gave a relieved sigh, before she regained her annoyed look, glaring at her watch, and the medal still inserted into it.

"Even when I think that, for _once_, you're going to be professional; you still find a way to get a rise out of me, don't you?" Emma grumbled as she ejected the medal from her watch, which she put back in her pocket, before hiding the device back under her shirt.

Reaching into her other pocket, Emma pulled out a small, golden locket, crafted into the symbol for the Enma tribe, flipping it open revealed a photo of two red-skinned infants sleeping soundly in a crib; the last born children of the previous Lord Enma; herself, and her twin brother…

A single tear escaped Emma's eye as she stared at the picture; the only evidence she had that her brother existed for so much of her life… clutching the locket tightly, Emma's eyes narrowed, determination burning brightly from within them, '_Lucas, even if you can never know who I really am, I swear; I will do everything in my power to protect you, and I will __**never**__ let you be taken away from me again!_'

Wiping the tear from her eye, Emma closed the locket and put it away, before her eyes narrowed and flashed, she held out her hand as a warm glow emitted from it; five small black boxes materialized before her, floating in place, "The Enma Watches… one down, five to go," with a snap of her fingers, the five boxes vanished from where they came, Emma allowed herself a whimsical smile as she looked up at the sky, "Katie Forester, I wonder; what will _you_ do with this gift…?"

* * *

"I don't understand this thing…" Katie muttered with a slight bit of frustration as she walked up the path back to Uptown Springdale, holding her new watch in front of her, fiddling with the buttons a bit, causing the light to go on and off a few times, but none of the other buttons seemingly doing anything. "Is this just a flashlight? Why the watch design?"

The brunette girl let out an annoyed groan as she kept turning the light on and off, "I know Emma wanted me to use that money on the claw machine, but I can't help but think it could have been better spent–huh!?" Katie quickly focused the light onto an area by the side of Springdale Central Station, she was sure she caught a glimpse of a shadowed form, but it was gone in a flash, "What…?"

Katie looked at the watch-pendant again with slightly narrowed eyes, before she flicked the light on again, shining it over the area of the sidewalk in front of her, until she spotted the shadow again…

The shadow dodged out of the way, as if spooked by the light. The only thing Katie was able to make out was a slightly roundish form, she kept shining the light after the strange shadow, following it as it moved further and further up the path.

People made way and stared as the young girl moved past them, seemingly chasing nothing while shining a light from what looked to be a toy.

Katie didn't even notice the other people as she kept charging after the shadow, eventually it led her into the parking lot of Fortune Hospital, where she finally was able to corner it at one of the building's walls.

"Finally, what _are_ you…?" Katie's eyes narrowed as she shined the light on the shadow, which, at last, didn't run away, and a form more than a shadow soon became visible.

"Noko! Noko!" the small, yellow scaled, plump snake with a clover design on its head cheered as it hopped around.

"W-What!?" Katie reeled back at the sight of the creature, not expecting the strange shadow to be anything but that, but here before her… was something she was sure she recognized. "Is… is that a _real_ tsuchinoko!?"

"Noko! Noko!" the hopping snake happily chanted.

**Slippery Tribe: Noko**

"How-Why-_WHAT!?_" Katie's mind was going a mile a minute as she tried to process what she was seeing, not only the appearance of a supposedly mythological creature, but how it's presence had been revealed to her by the weird watch she had won from a _claw machine game_!

"Noko!"

Before Katie could react, the golden snake had leapt forward and right into her chest, knocking her to the ground, and started licking her face. "Wha!? Hold on! Get off–Haha! –that tickles!" the girl managed to push the snake off her body, getting back to her feet as she looked down at the strange creature with confusion.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" the 'tsuchinoko' chanted cheerfully, hopping around Katie in a circle.

"What is this situation…?" Katie shook her head as she muttered to herself, looking between the creature and the watch in her hand. The ponytailed girl released a tired sigh, putting a hand to her forehead, "I… I think that's about all I can take for today…"

"Noko?" the snake yo-kai blinked as it noticed Katie had begun walking away.

"I just… need to go home and think," Katie muttered to herself as she continued heading in the direction of Uptown Springdale, until she heard the rhythm of bounces from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, Katie spotted the creature her new watch had revealed, following her…

Katie stopped in her tracks, inciting the snake to do the same, before the girl turned around and glared at the 'mythical' creature, "No, I have to go home now, you can't follow me."

"Noko…?" the golden scaled creature blinked, staring after the human girl as she turned away from it and continued in her march… before the snake began hopping after her again.

Katie paused a few moments later, having heard the hops, and released a long sigh, looking over her shoulder, "No, I just said you can't follow me; shoo, go away!"

"Noko!" the snake hopped cheerfully.

Katie felt her resolve weaken slightly at the sight of the 'tsuchinoko's' innocently smiling face, turning away the brunette gave a loud groan, before shaking her head, "Fine, follow me if you want, but I can't guarantee mom and dad won't freak…"

"Noko!" the snake creature seemed to understand the approval to follow (as if it ever mattered…) and continued hopping after the girl as they made their way towards her home.

* * *

"Dear, why are the blinds so bright? I think you should swap these out for some in dark purple. In fact, this whole room could use a_ lot_ more of both purple and black!"

"Hold on! You can't just waltz into Nate's room and act like you own the place!"

"Hmm, did you say something, _servant girl_?"

"I'M NOT A SERVANT GIRL!"

Nate could only sigh while sinking into his bed, which he was sitting on as he watched the continued argument between his new 'fiancée,' and Toiletta, Sailornyan hiding behind him for protection, while Whisper drifted over near his shoulder.

"Well… this surely can't continue for much longer," Whisper tried to assure his master, but he himself did not seem so convinced of his own words.

"JUST FIGHT ME ALREADY!" Toiletta roared, throwing blasts of dark energy at the other female.

Damona barely regarded the attack with a glance, easily dodging out of the way, while scoffing, "I very much would like to give you a demonstration of my power, but I don't want to go overboard so soon after my release. As of now, you're not worth the energy."

"Not _worth_ the energy!?" Toiletta snarled, steam shouting out of her nose as she glared at the newcomer with hatred in her eyes.

Nate's eye gained a subtle twitch as more dark blasts of energy started flying, which were all ignored by their intended target…

"Um, Nate…" Hidabat spoke up as he cracked open the closet door, looking towards the boy with concerned eyes, "I don't really have a stake in this, but as a friend I feel obligated to inform you– "

"DARLING!" Blizzaria cheered as she suddenly burst forth from the closet, bringing all attention onto her.

"That can't be good," Whisper gulped.

"You think?" Nate hissed, barely any emotion to his voice.

Sailornyan let out a nervous whimper as she huddled up behind her 'captain.'

Damona seemed to take more notice of the newcomer than she had of Toiletta, looking towards her lookalike with slightly narrowed eyes, "Darling…? Who exactly is 'Darling?' And who are _you_, for that matter?"

Blizzara paused as she took in the appearance of the newcomer, before she let out a small cough and gained a confident grin, along with a slight blush on her cheeks, "Who am I? Why I'm the frosty beauty Blizzaria, of course!"

"You don't look any more 'beautiful' than any other yuki-onna I've ever seen," Damona responded in a blunt tone. "And isn't 'Blizzaria' the most common 'default' name for that form of yuki-onna? _Real_ original there, I'm _sure_ when people say it, they immediately think of you, and none of the _hundreds_ of other 'Blizzarias' out there!"

Blizzaria nearly fell out of the air in response to those blows to her ego, but quickly regained hid her shaken demeanor behind a mask of confidence, "While th-that may be true, I'm the most notable of the 'Blizzarias,' I assure you! I'm quite well known even in those circles, to the point that many that would otherwise go by 'Blizzaria' have started using nicknames, so as not to be confused with myself!"

"… There are _hundreds_ of Blizzarias?" Nate muttered, looking towards his butler with a dreadful expression.

Whisper silently searched through his yo-kai pad for a moment, before nodding to his master.

Nate gulped as he sunk further into his bed…

"Oh, I'm sure_ that's_ the reason for the use of nicknames, because they don't want to be confused with you, _not_ because; they know just calling themselves 'Blizzaria' is lazy and stupid!" Damona held a hand to her mouth to hide her smirk.

Blizzaria growled, steam coming from her head as she glared at her dark mirror image hatefully.

"_Hello_, I'm still here you know!" Toiletta called out in annoyance, waving her hands, but she was left ignored by the two S-Ranks.

"Darling!" Blizzaria suddenly smiled as she turned her focus to Nate, swiftly moving over to him and grabbing his arm.

Nate flinched at the chilly feel of the yuki-onna's grip on his skin.

"Darling, who is this wicked woman and why is she in _our_ room!?" Blizzaria questioned in a faux-frightened tone.

"IT'S NOT 'YOUR' ROOM!" Toiletta cried out in protest, fuming at the sight of Blizzaria grabbing her crushes' arm.

Damona moved to Nate's other side, grabbing the opposite arm, "I'll have you know; this 'wicked woman' happens to be his fiancée!" the purple-haired yuki-onna/oni hybrid smirked as she crept closer to the boy, leaning her head against his shoulder, "Isn't that right, _honey_?"

"Uh…" Nate felt his face heat up, despite the chilly air that was assaulting him from both sides.

Blizzaria's eyes widened, with one of them twitching, her face going red with rage, "F-Fi-Fiancée!?"

"Did I _stutter_?" Damona hissed, keeping her close position to Nate as she looked at Blizzaria mockingly. "Yes, I am the fiancée of Nathan Adams. So, enough of that 'darling' stuff! If you wish to be one of the future Oni King's wives, you're going to need to learn your place; and that place is below me!"

Blizzaria's expression turned dark, "My 'place,' huh…?"

"Nya…" Sailornyan whimpered, before Nate picked her up, "Captain Nyate?" the pink nekomata looked at the boy questioningly as he put her on the ground.

"Hide under the bed, Sailornyan," the human encouraged urgently.

Sailornyan stared at her 'captain' for a couple of seconds, before saluting him, and scurrying under the bed.

Nate gave a sigh of relief, before glancing fearfully at how icy energy, both blue and purple, were gathering in his room.

"Oh-hoho, you want me to learn my 'place' huh?" Blizzaria chuckled madly as she glared at her doppelganger.

"Yes, if you want any hope of even being in my future king's harem!" Damona responded coolly.

"I am STILL HERE!" Toiletta exerted her dark aura, trying to intersect the other two female yo-kai, but was, again, ignored…

"This is looking really bad, Nate…" Whisper muttered fearfully, before noticing how his master seemed to just be staring blankly into space, "… Nate?"

"I know my place alright, and that place is… as my darling's future wife!" Blizzaria's mad smirk widened, several sharp icicles forming above her, pointing at Damona. "His _only_ wife!"

"Hmph, if you won't accept your place below the first wife, then you shall be _no_ wife!" Damona cackled as swirl of dark energy and ice started to form above her.

"My knight, I have come to– " Camellia paused as she entered the room from the closet, her cheerful smile being replaced with a slightly baffled look when she was met with both Blizzaria and Damona's glares, "Um… well, this is awkward…" Camellia chuckled a bit as she closed the closet door behind her and floated over to her two lookalikes, "Colors aside, it seems we're all wearing the same outfit, aren't we?"

Neither Blizzaria nor Damona seemed amused with the attempt at humor from the flowery princess.

"HEY! I'M HERE TOO! I'M NOT IN THE SAME OUTFIT AS YOU GUYS!" Toiletta shouted out of frustration as she buzzed around the room, before she was flash-frozen by a double blast from Blizzaria and Damona.

"There, we remembered you were there," Damona huffed, before glaring at both Blizzaria and Camellia, "Now, _where_ were we…?"

"I remember," Blizzaria hissed, pointing her icicles at Damona once more, with a few now pointing towards Camellia.

"Wait, we were somewhere…?" Camellia just looked confused as she looked between the two near-identical copies of herself.

"That's it; I'm out," Nate muttered while shaking his head, making his way to the door of his room, while the female yo-kai were all too preoccupied with each other to notice (or, in Sailornyan's case; safely hiding under his bed.)

"Wait, Nate where are you– "

"Don't follow me, Whisper," the human boy growled seriously holding a hand up to stop his butler, before he headed out the door.

"Um…" Whisper looked unsure, "Alright, Nate…"

* * *

"Mom, Dad!" Nate called out to his parents as he stepped down the stairs, glancing into the living room, and spotting them both working together to cook dinner.

"Oh, hey son!" Aaron Adams waved to the boy with an oven mitt covered hand. "Dinner will be ready soon!"

"It's this new recipe for a macaroni casserole I found online earlier today!" Lily Adams smiled brightly as she looked towards her son.

"That sounds good, but I just wanted to tell you guys that I wanted to go out and get some fresh air for a bit…" Nate explained, gesturing to the front door.

Both parents paused in their actions, looking to each other, before shrugging.

"Uh, sure Nate, that's fine," the father nodded.

"Just say safe, and be back before the sun sets," the mother stated firmly, a single index-finger held up.

The boy nodded to his parents, "Alright, thanks, I'll be back before the sun sets!" and with that, the child quickly rushed out the front door.

"… Did Nate seem… anxious to you?" Lily questioned her husband, a concerned look on her face.

"He did seem a bit eager to get out of here… I'm sure it's nothing, probably just hormones setting in and feeling weird around Hanako," Aaron assured with a slight chuckle.

Lily didn't look so sure, her frown deepening. After a moment, she gave an unconvincing nod, before the married couple returned to their joint dinner preparations.

* * *

Trudging along the sidewalk up the street from his home, Nate let out a pained sigh, '_Really, how can things get any worse at this point? First yo-kai started screwing with my life, then I had gotten a 'harem' for seemingly no reason, and now I'm ENGAGED!? Why!? What did I ever do to deserve this horror!?_' letting out a defeated sigh as he came up to the crosswalk that led to Triangle Park, Nate found himself unsure which direction to go. '_The park could be good for letting off some steam, but I could also head to the convenient store… no! Mom and Dad are working so hard on dinner, I can't spoil my apatite! Maybe I–_ "Nate's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a whistle being blown, "Huh…?"

"Alright girls keep in formation! One-two! One-two!"

'_That sounds like…_' Nate looked to the right, where the familiar voice was coming from, and gawked at what he saw coming his way, "KATIES!?"

"Hmm?" someone who appeared to be Katie looked towards Nate curiously, marching in a line with five other girls… all of whom appeared to be Katie!? "Oh, hello Nate!" the 'lead Katie' seemed a bit bashful as she waved at the boy, "Didn't… expect to run into you so soon…"

Nate stared blankly at the line of near-identical girls; noticing a few differences to the Katie he knew and loved; their skin was pale, almost grey in color. Their hair was a duller shade of brown than what he remembered Katie's being. The pupils of their eyes were just black, as opposed to the shining brown he was used to. Each of the Katies had on a copy of the clothing set he was most used to seeing, aside from the color; each of the Katies was wearing a shirt of a different color from what he remembered, as well as each other, with the bows in each of their hair sharing the color of their shirts.

"Um… Nate?" the lead Katie, who was in red and had a whistle around her neck, gave a concerned look to the boy as he continued staring at them.

"I don't think we're ready for this…" a Katie dressed in green near the middle of the group commented nervously.

The next Katie over from the one in green, who was in yellow, nodded in agreement, "Yeah, at this point in our training, Nate's sure to figure out we're– "

"SHH!" the blue-garbed Katie, who stood directly behind the leader, shushed her fellow Katie with a harsh glare.

For his part, Nate didn't hear a word any of the 'Katies' were saying, he could only stare in amazement at the dream-come-to-life that was visible before him, he briefly considered shining the yo-kai watch light, but quickly shoved that logical thought down into the farthest reaches of his subconscious. Nate looked at each Katie, and the colors they wore in line; red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange; each slightly different, but each equally beautiful, as each was Katie…

"Nate?" Red Katie's concerned grew as she snapped her fingers in front of the dazed boy's face, getting no reaction out of him.

"Oh no! We killed Nate!" Yellow Katie cried out in despair as she fell to her knees.

"I _really_ don't think he's dead…" Purple Katie commented skeptically.

"Nate? Are you dead?" Blue Katie stepped out of line, walking over to the boy and poking his shoulder.

"Gah!?" Nate jumped a bit, shaking his head, before he was met with the sight of six worried Katies looking at him, a bright blush formed on the boy's face and he almost went right back into his dazed state, but a quick slap to himself kept that from happening, "Um, K-Katie… and Katie, and, um… Katies…?"

The 'Katies' all glanced at each other, blinking a bit, before giving nervous smiles the boy's way.

"Er, that's right… we're… Katie!" Red Katie assured, giving a forced smile and trying to avoid direct eye-contact with the boy, a greyish blush of her own forming on her face…

"Oh… okay," Nate nodded slowly, shoving the urge to use his yo-kai watch even _further_ back into his subconscious. "So… Katie, Katie, Katie, Katie, Katie, and… Katie, right?"

"That's right…" Orange Katie nodded nervously, glancing away as a blush appeared on her face (along with every other 'Katies'' face…)

Nate nodded again, "Cool… cool, so… what are you… Katies… up to?"

"Uh…" Red Katie nervously glanced between Nate and her fellow 'Katies,' "We were just, you know… having a little workout, you know…?" she chuckled a little awkwardly while rubbing the back of her neck, "Y-Yup, just a nice workout before dinner time! Right, girls?"

"Uh, yeah, what Katie said!" Blue Katie nodded quickly.

"A workout routine; a synchronized march around the block!" Purple Katie exclaimed with a quick nod.

"Y-Yeah, that's it…" Green Katie affirmed unsurely.

"Oh, that sounds like fun…" Nate nodded, his blush brightening as he looked at each 'Katie' once more, "Can I, um… join you…?"

The 'Katies' stood frozen and wide-eyed for a moment, their own blushes deepening at the idea of Nate coming with them.

"Uh, sure, Nate… if you want," Red Katie nodded, still looking a bit nervous, gesturing for Nate to get in line.

"Thanks!" Nate smiled, walking to the back of the line.

"Ahm, alright then…" Red Katie let out a small cough, before she blew her whistle, and all the 'Katies,' plus Nate, got back into a straight line. "Alright girls… and Nate, let's continue our train–I mean, workout! One-two! One-two! Step in unison everyone!"

'_I have no idea what's going on… but I'll take it!_' Nate thought blissfully as he followed along with the pack of 'Katies…' before the thought of using his yo-kai watch popped back into his head, '_No! Go away! You're not ruining this for me!_" and he promptly shoved it back…

"This wasn't the plan," Green Katie nervously whispered as she tugged on Blue Katie's shirt, "This isn't going to work, he's going to figure out the truth, and he's going to hate us, and– "

"SHHH!" Blue Katie harshly shushed her green counterpart, "Maybe he won't figure it out, if you don't spill the beans _yourself_."

Green Katie still seemed very nervous, but nodded her head quickly, making a motion of zipping her mouth shut.

"Alright girls, and Nate, we're coming up at a turn, remember to stay in formation!" Red Katie commanded, blowing her whistle again as she led the group, keeping her nervousness hidden for the sake of the group, '_Oh man! Oh man! Nate's with us during our 'Katie training,' this is bad! No, no, maybe it's not bad! So long as he doesn't find out, maybe we can make this work… I hope._'

* * *

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Katie announced herself tiredly, allowing the gleeful hopping snake to follow her through the door, already sure that this was going to result in a lot of freaking out from her parents…

"Katie, welcome home!" Katie's father, Jason Forester, greeted with a bright smile from his seat on the couch, newspaper in hand.

"Dinner should be ready in about an hour, so please wash up as soon as you're ready!" Katie's mother, Rebecca Forester, waved from the kitchen, checking the timer on the oven briefly.

"Um… okay…?" Katie blinked in confusion, watching as the 'tsuchinoko' hopped around the house, happily chirping 'Noko!' every other hop, with no reaction from her parents; not even when it hopped directly in front of them, '_Can they really be that oblivious to what's going on around them…? Unless…_' the young girl's eyes widened as she recalled how she had found the snake in the first place; she couldn't see it either! Not until she shined the light onto it, the light from… '_The watch…?_' Katie held up her watch, staring at it blankly.

"Oh, what's that Katie? Something you won at the arcade?"

Katie blinked, looking at her father, "Um… yeah, I… got it from a claw machine on my first try."

The father of the Forester family seemed impressed with that statement, "A claw machine on the first try, huh? And I always thought those things were rigged! Looks like you've got the old 'Forester skill' in you for sure, Katie!"

"Ha, y-yeah, that's for sure…" Katie nodded nervously, hiding the watch behind her back as she started moving towards the stares, "Well, if you excuse me I'm just gonna go… put it away, before I… you know; wash up for dinner!"

"Alright sweetie!" the father smiled kindly.

"I'm sure you'll enjoyed what I'm making tonight!" the mother chuckled as she watched her daughter ascend the stairs.

"Y-Yeah, I'm sure!" Katie nodded as she kept moving up.

"Noko!" the snake creature had noticed Katie's movements, so it quickly hopped off the coffee table to follow Katie up the stairs.

Once the young girl, and (invisible?) snake had fully left the room, Jason sent his wife a slight frown, "Did Katie seem… jumpy to you?"

"Hm? Well she did seem a little anxious to get up to her room," Rebecca nodded with a small hum, "But I'm sure it's nothing; she's a growing girl after all, she probably just wants some privacy!"

"Well…" Jason didn't seem so sure, staring up at the stairs with concern, before finally nodding, "If you say so, dear…"

* * *

"Alright, what exactly is the deal with this…?" Katie muttered, sitting on her bed while looking the watch-pendant over, shaking it a bit, pressing the button to flick the light on and off a few times, trying a few of the other buttons again to see if they did anything, and sighing when they didn't. "I don't understand… why is this thing… like this? It came from a _claw machine_! Why did it reveal a tsuchinoko!?"

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" the 'tsuchinoko' was hopping frantically in front of Katie, as if trying to get her attention.

Katie let out a small growl, glaring at the reptile as she set down the watch, "What? Isn't it bad enough that you followed me home!? I'm not gonna feed you too, go back outside and hunt some rodents if you're so hungry!"

"Noko!" the hopping snake jumped up onto Katie's bed, opening its mouth wide.

"You can't eat me!" the human girl reeled back from the scaly critter, before she noticed something shiny on its tongue, "Huh…? What's that, a coin…?" reaching forward, with a slight shudder, Katie picked up the 'coin' from the snake creature's tongue, holding it up to her eyes. The coin was made of a metal of some type; one side of it depicted a stylized image of the 'tsuchinoko,' and the other side showed what seemed to be an image of a green flower. "What's this…?"

"Noko!" the snake answered, unhelpfully.

"Is that _all _you can say?" Katie gave the mysterious creature a bland look.

"Noko!"

"Can you even understand me?" Katie expression remained unchanged.

"Noko!"

"What's the meaning of life!?" the girl's eyes narrowed.

"NOKO-NO!"

Katie sighed, turning away from the reptile and shaking her head, "Well, that was pointless…" the girl sat in silence with the snake beside her for several minutes, eventually she gave a frustrated grunt, holding up the watch and the snake-coin, "I don't get it! What does this mean!? Why do I have these things, why did this watch find you!? Why did you give me this… this…?" Katie blinked, glancing between the watch and the coin a couple times, "Wait a minute…"

"Noko! Noko!" the snake hopped up and down in excitement.

"This coin, it looks like it could…" carefully, Katie slid the coin into the watch's face, and it clicked into place, "It fits!"

"Noko!"

"But… now what?" Katie shook the watch, staring at the device with frustration, "So I can put your picture in it, what's the point of that!?" she looked to the 'tsuchinoko' for answers, even though she knew at this point that none would come.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" the plump snake started bouncing around the room as if it was filled with springs, continuously giving its excited cry over and over…

"Arg! Why are you so _annoying_!?" Katie clutched her head in agony, "What is the point of this!? If there is some point, how am I supposed to figure it out!?"

"Noko!" the snake creature started doing a bit of a dance.

Katie didn't notice as a gold aura started to form around the snake, and then herself, as she was too focused on the watch, "What am I supposed to do…?" taking a guess, the girl hit one of the other buttons on the watch's side, and a 'swerving' sort of sound suddenly emitted from the watch, the face flashing, "Okay, so that didn't happen when the coin wasn't in… but still… what do I do next? That doesn't feel like it's it…"

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" The snake creature continued to dance joyfully, the glow around its body intensifying.

Katie didn't notice as the glow around herself strengthened, still entirely focused on the watch, suddenly a flash crossed the girl's eye, before she shrugged, "Eh, I'll just guess, why not?" holding the watch up, Katie tried to think about what she could possibly do to make the watch do something more, "Hmm… I don't know why, but a chant feels right… yeah; I'll try a chant!" the idea sounded kind of ridiculous, but she had a good gut feeling about her guess.

"Noko!" the 'tsuchinoko' chirped in approval.

Raising the watch over her head, Katie looked unsure as she tried to think of a chant, "Um, let's see… Beginning activation! Tsuchinoko, may I… call upon your power? Weird Coin, do… something!" after she finished, Katie closed her eyes, as if she was expecting a bright flash of light, however, after several moments of nothing happening, the girl opened her eyes again, a look of disappointment in them, "I really don't know why I thought that would– "

"**MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!**"

"WHA!?" Katie nearly fell over in shock from both the booming voice, and bright light, that were now emitting from her watch.

"**IT'S TIME TO CALL FORTH THE SLIPPERY TRIBE!**"

"The WHAT!?" Katie cried out in confusion.

"NOKO!" the snake creature seemed particularly happy with this development, especially as his body started to glow red…

"**SLIPPERY! THEY'RE SLIPPERY! SO SLIPPERY! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH THEM! THEY'RE SLIPPERY!**" the watch sang as a tornado of light blue runes shot out from the face, along with a burning red glow.

"What is going on!?" Katie had to shield her eyes from the glow of her watch.

In a flash, the 'tsuchinoko' vanished from its position across the room and appeared from the tornado and light to stand before Katie, "Noko!"

"**ENMA CHARGE!**"

"Enma, what!?" Katie was still having trouble processing everything _without_ the watch yelling more things that she didn't understand.

"NOKO! NO-KO!" the snack creature cheered as a flaming aura surrounded its body, and its scales gained a red tint. "NOKO-NOKO-NOKO!"

"Wha…?" once the glow died down, Katie was left to stare in silence as the newly super-charged 'tsuchinoko' bounced around her room at what she guessed was about three times the speed it was at previously, chirping out 'Nokos' at an_ even_ faster rate! Katie looked at the watch, then the snack, then the watch again… "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!? WHAT IS _LIFE_ EVEN ANYMORE!?"

"NOKONOKONOKONOKONOKO!"

* * *

"Alright, great work today girls, you too Nate! We earned this!" Red Katie smiled brightly at her fellow 'Katies' and Nate, the seven of them standing in front of Flower Road's Everymart, each of them holding a bottle of juice.

"Thanks, it was… fun," Nate smiled, his face still tinted red from being in the presence of six lovely Katies… the thought of using the yo-kai watch didn't return this time, for it now feared the inevitable fate of being beaten down further by Nate once more…

"Oh, good, I'm thirsty!" Blue Katie cheered, opening her bottle of apple juice and drinking it down in nearly one gulp.

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to this part," Purple Katie smiled, drinking from her lemonade.

Nate watched each of the 'Katies' open their drinks, his smile widening a bit from seeing how happy they were, he looked at his own bottle of grape juice, he was about to open it, when he looked up and noticed that the sky was turning orange, "Oh no, I've gotta get home!"

At that exclamation, all the 'Katies' stopped in their merriment, their expressions falling as they turned to the boy.

"What?" Orange Katie's voice was full of disappointment.

"Say it isn't so!" Yellow Katie looked like she was about to cry.

"You can't just ditch us now!" Blue Katie seemed a bit angry, but there was an underlining tone of sadness to her voice.

"Nate…" Green Katie sniffled as she stared at the boy.

Nate backed up a bit as the 'Katies' all closed in on him, staring at him with pleading, angry, or crying eyes, all their voices saying his name, pleading and/or demanding he stay with them…

"Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! NATE! NATE! NATE! NATE! NATE!"

"STOP!" the boy snapped, his face burning red, putting his hands to his ears and closing his eyes, "I-I don't want to go, but I have to! I need to go home; you need to understand! I can't stay with you all!"

The 'Katies' stopped in their calling for the boy, but still looked upset as they stared at him, faint blushes on all their cheeks.

"He's right," Red Katie finally spoke with a sad sigh, "He needs to go home, we can't keep him from that…"

"But… I want him to stay with us," Blue Katie's eyes narrowed. "Let's just take him!"

"We can't kidnap him!" Purple Katie countered bluntly.

"I, um, can hear you…" Nate reminded, taking a couple steps back from the six identical girls.

"Relax, we're not going to kidnap you," Red Katie quickly assured, before sending a harsh look Blue Katie's way, "_Right_?"

Blue Katie let out an annoyed sigh, crossing her arms, "Right…"

"Nate, we… don't want you to go, but we understand," Green Katie assured.

"Before you go, can we… hug?" Yellow Katie asked hopefully, her already present blush intensifying.

"Hug…?" Nate's body stiffened slightly, the redness of his face brightening. "Uh, s-sure, we could hug…"

"Yeah!" Yellow Katie cheered, jumping forward and latching onto the boy's right side.

"And kiss?" Purple Katie asked hopefully as she hugged the boy's left side, "Can we kiss your cheeks?"

Nate's whole body had practically turned red at this point, he could barely speak in response to that idea, so he simply nodded.

"Yeah!" both Purple and Yellow Katies cheered, kissing both sides of Nate's face at once.

"My turn!" Blue Katie aggressively shoved forward.

"My turn too!" Orange Katie smiled as she charged forward.

"B-But I want my turn now!" Green Katie cried out as she moved towards the boy.

"Girls, keep organized!" Red Katie desperately tried to control the situation, but it was no use, so she eventually just joined the free-for-all.

Nate didn't know what to think as he was hugged from all sides by six Katies, while they all attempted to kiss his cheeks, it was like a dream come true at first, but it wasn't long before he was starting to feel smothered, "O-Okay, I think that's enough… guys? Katies…?" Nate struggled a bit to escape the circling embrace, but it didn't seem like there was any way out. "GIRLS! KATIES! _STOP_!"

As if they were awoken from a trance, the six 'Katies' all released and let go of the boy, muttering various apologies as they backed off from him…

Nate let out few heavy breaths, the concept of having been hugged and kissed by six copies of his crush all at once being a bit too much for his mind to process, eventually he managed to shake off his flustered state and started to step back in the direction of his home, "Um, so… this was fun… bye…?"

"B-Bye!" the 'Katies' all waved.

"C-Come hang out with us again sometime!" Green Katie called out.

"Yeah, please!" Orange Katie nodded eagerly.

"We'll be around here probably!" Red Katie assured, taking the whistle off her neck before tossing it to Nate, "Just blow that, and we'll come!"

Catching the whistle, Nate stared at it for a moment, before nodding back to the group of identical girls, and continuing his march home.

Once the boy was gone, the group of 'Katies' all collectively let out long sighs of disappointment, before purple mist started to surround each of their bodies…

One by one the forms of Katie Forester faded away from the imposters, revealing their true forms; they looked very similar to the yo-kai Mimikin, but they were about a head taller, had somewhat more feminine bodies and faces, and their attire consisted of sports bras and shorts, each in the respective color of their shirts and bows when they had been disguised as Katie.

With a few more sighs, the female Mimikin-like yo-kai moved to throw their empty juice bottles into the proper receptacles, before the red one stepped forward and looked at the others.

"Well… that certainly didn't go as planned, but it really wasn't a failure either, I suppose… now Nate has met us, and seems to like us… even if he doesn't know the truth…" the red clothed yo-kai glanced at all her stiffly moving sisters as they stared at her, "It'll be fine, Nate will call us when he wants to hang out… and really we should be getting home too," smiling, the red pointed in the direction of Tranquility Apartments, "Mimikette Squad, get in formation!"

**Tough Tribe: Mimikette**

As one, the group of mannequin yo-kai moved in sync with one another as they made their way over to the apartment buildings, heading towards building A, and heading into one of the first-floor doors.

"Man, it is good to be home!" Blue Mimikette did a stretch as she moved to sit down on a mattress that lay near a wall.

"Yeah, 'Katie training' might not have gone as planned, but we met Nate, and we spent time with him!" Red Mimikette cheered as she walked through the messy apartment building, disregarding the dirty dishes and takeout boxes scattered about. "Maybe we won't even need to do it anymore!"

"I don't know…" Green Mimikette looked unsure, moving over to a minifridge and pulling out a piece of pizza, "I'm still worried about when he finds out who we really are, he's going to hate us!"

"How can he hate us? We're awesome!" Orange Mimikette assured as she reclined on a crooked armchair, absentmindedly eating a bag of potato chips.

"Oh, so you finally decided to come back home?" a rather annoyed Mimikin spoke up as he stepped over from the other half of the apartment, which was divided by a sliding door.

"Hey bro!" Purple Mimikette gave a disinterested wave, more of her focus currently on a handheld video game.

Each of the other Mimikettes gave similar greetings, all more interested in whatever they were doing over the appearance of their brother.

Mimikin let out a long sigh, holding a broom as he stepped to the center of the messy room, "So, remember what I said the other day about us working together more, to keep this place _clean_…?"

"Ahuh, sounds awesome," Purple Mimikette nodded without looking up from her game.

"Yeah, when you planning to get on that anyway?" Blue Mimikette looked over, taking a more relaxed position on the mattress she had claimed, "_Lazy_…"

"Yeah, bro, why is this place still so dirty?" Green Mimikette questioned as she walked up to the male mannequin yo-kai, nibbling on the remains of her pizza slice, before tossing the crust to the ground without a second thought.

"Yeah, stop being so lazy, bro!" Orange Mimikette raised a fist in the air, tossing her empty chip bag to the floor.

"We can't do all the work around here!" Red Mimikette crossed her arms with a huff.

"You can be rather inconsiderate brother, you know," Yellow Mimikette whimpered, "You know we had Nate with us today but he… had to go home!" Yellow Mimikette began crying as she recalled that moment.

The other Mimikettes soon started expressing similar sentiments of sadness and voices of agreement.

Mimikin just glared at his sisters, before he sighed and started picking up the garbage…

* * *

Nate gave a dreadful sigh as he stepped back up to the porch of his home, glancing down at the whistle he now wore around his neck, he almost considered blowing it to summon 'his Katies' to come and whisk him away, but quickly shook that thought out of his head.

Opening the door, Nate stepped into his home, smiling as he took in the smell of dinner, seeing his parents and Toiletta already seated at the table, it seemed at least dinner would be nice…

* * *

Dinner was, unfortunately, where the niceness ended. When Nate returned to his room, he found the place to be a warzone…

Ice and snow of both the blue and purple variety was littered about (there were also a lot of flowers, for some reason…), items had been tossed aside carelessly, his bed was turned on its side and being used as a shield by Sailornyan, Whisper and Camellia, while Blizzaria remained at the center of the room, glaring at each other.

"I stepped out of this earlier, and I'm staying out!" Toiletta commented from the hall, before ducking into her own room.

Nate gave a low groan, stepping into the room without a second thought.

Blizzaria and Damona halted their confrontation when they noticed the boy approaching, both turning to him quickly.

Darling, how are– "

"Honey, what took you so– "

Neither yuki-onna was able to finish their sentence, before Nate grabbed them both by the shoulders, pulled them over to the closet, shoved them inside, and closed it behind them; both too stunned to react.

Whisper, Sailornyan and Camellia stared in wide-eyed shock from behind the bed, over how quickly the human boy had ended the struggle.

"He is a knight…" Camellia's shock soon turned to a swoon as she stared at the boy with sparkling eyes.

"Oh please…" Whisper groaned.

"Nya…" Sailornyan's eyes sparkled as well…

Nate ignored any attention from the three yo-kai, trudging through the snow and up to his sideways bed, crawling up onto its side, which was currently the top, and curling up to sleep…

"… I did not see that coming," Whisper muttered while scratching his head.

Both Camellia and Sailornyan were still just staring at the boy with bright, sparkling eyes…

Whisper sighed, before he noticed the sounds of Damona and Blizzaria shouted and shaking from the closet, indicating the two had gotten over their shock regarding Nate's actions, "Well… that can't be good… at least those doors have been reinforced to handle S-Rank attacks."

Of course, the doors' durability did nothing to ease the yo-kai butler's worries, when it started to _slide_ open once more…

* * *

The sun shone high in the sky, over another 'normal' day in Springdale.

"I still don't get it…" Katie muttered to herself, looking over her watch-pendant, which she now wore around her neck, as she walked to school. "I get that it summoned you, and gave you a power-boost, I think, but… why?"

"NOKO!" the 'tsuchinoko' cheered as it hopped around Katie, the red tiny and fairy aura from the previous day still present on the creature.

"Yeah, yeah, I know; 'why look a gift horse in the mouth,' but this is still really weird, and you're _not_ a horse!" Katie countered, giving the hopping snake a slightly annoyed look.

"Noko, noko, no-ko! Noko-ko-Noko!" the snake turned to Katie, hopping a few times and smiling innocently.

Katie sighed, "Yeah; pretending I can understand you isn't helping…"

"Noko!"

Katie gave a frustrated grunt, tossing the watch up and catching it a few times, "I feel like this can help me figure out what's been going on at school, but I'm not entirely sure… nor do I know how I should even approach it, what should I– "

"NOKO!"

Katie stopped in her tracks, noticing her snake companion was glaring at something, directing its tongue like an arrow… Katie followed the reptile's line of vision, up to the Everymart, and the alley beside it, and the blond boy sneaking around– "Wait a minute! Kyubi!?"

Kyubi seemed to have heard Katie's exclamation, as he locked eyes with her at that moment, before quickly moving out of the alley and speeding off in the direction of Breezy Hills.

"HEY, WAIT!" the human girl shouted, giving chase.

"Noko…" the 'tsuchinoko' smiled as it watched Katie run, before it started doing a happy little dance, a bright orange glow emitted from its body, before being transferred to Katie's, and the red tint to the snake's scales faded…

* * *

Kyubi ran frantically from the pursuing girl, who seemed to have gained a supernatural level of athletic ability and luck (perhaps the bright orange inspiritment that surrounded her had something to do with that, but he wasn't going to stop to check…), he had just been trying to find a safe route to school that wouldn't have him running into Nate, and by proxy; _Damona_, but he had nearly forgotten about Katie's current desire for 'answers' from him!

"KYUBI! GET BACK HERE!"

As if he needed that reminder of his current situation, the disguised fox quickened his pace; but he was at a disadvantage; every possible stumble he could make, it seems he did, and any time it seemed like Katie would be slowed down, she found some way to speed up!

As if to prove to Kyubi that fate (or, in this case, 'luck') was against him, when the Fox came up to a turn on the path around Gourd Pond, he instead slipped, despite all his reflexes, and came tumbling and splashing into the lake.

"AHA!" Katie came up to the spot in front of the lake, just as the disguised yo-kai popped out of the water, spitting out a stream of water (along with a fish or two…), the orange glow around Katie faded as she grinned triumphantly.

"Noko!" the yellow snake yo-kai cheered as it came up to Katie's side.

"Alright Kyubi, I have had enough of these secrets and nonsense!" the ponytailed girl spoke seriously, holding up her watch.

Kyubi's eyes widened, "Wait, is that a… yo-kai watch!?"

Katie blinked, lowering her watch as she looked the boy over, "A what-kai watch…?"

Kyubi let out a sigh, pulling himself out of the water and shaking a bit to dry, before giving the human girl a serious look, "Alright… come with me. I'll tell you… everything!"

Katie stared at the blond with a blank look, "… Wait, really!?"

"Noko!" the snake yo-kai cheered.

* * *

Nate tried his best to pay attention as he sat in class, but the lack of a peaceful sleep the night before, and the staring eyes of Damona just out the window, for both contributing factors of why he was finding it so difficult…

Another factor in his inability to pay attention was that fact that both Katie, and Kyubi were not in their seats (mostly the fact that Katie wasn't in her seat…)

The boy didn't have to wonder about the two's whereabouts for long, though, as they came running into the classroom mere moments after he had glanced at their desks.

"Mr. Johnson! Sorry we're late!" Katie quickly bowed, with Kyubi mimicking the same motion.

"Miss. Forester, Mr. Kitsune, so nice of you to join us," the teacher spoke coolly as he looked over the two late students.

Katie and Kyubi glanced to each other nervously…

"Luckily, you're only a couple minutes late, and consider your impeccable record, Miss. Forester, and the fact that you are still new, Kyubi, I suppose I can let it slide… this one time!" the teacher's expression turned to a friendly smile.

Kyubi and Katie both gave sighs of relief, before they went to their seats.

Nate looked over at Katie as she took her seat, a bit of concern on his face, before she looked his way and he quickly smiled and waved.

Katie stared at Nate with a slight frown, and an unreadable look in her eyes, before she turned away from him and sat down.

'… _What was that…?_' Nate wasn't sure, and it might have just been his sleep-deprived state, but that look Katie had given him seemed strange just now…

* * *

Katie had trouble hearing what the teacher said, his words all droning together in the face of everything else on her mind. She briefly considered glancing Nate's way, but she couldn't bring herself to; her feelings on the boy were too complicated now…

"_With all this in mind, I want you promise one thing…" Kyuby had said to her, standing before the girl in his true, nine tailed fox form, from within a well-hidden alley._

"_What…?"_

"_Don't hold keeping this from you against Nate…"_

"_But… he lied to me!"_

"_I know but…" Kyubi had sighed, "Look, he has his reasons, please… just, cut him some slack…"_

With an unsure sigh, Katie subtly reached down her shirt and pulled out her 'yo-kai watch,' and then reached into her pocket and pulled out a 'yo-kai medal' depicting the true form of Kyubi… '_I still don't entirely know what to think, but… I'll trust you; I suppose…_'

* * *

So, didn't expect to update this again so soon, but I got on a roll writing this, and I needed to finish it…

So yeah, I decided to include Emma Daiouji from Yo-kai Watch Jam. I still haven't seen the movie or series (as I'm pretty sure they're not subbed) so I can't really say if her personality is on point, but she is playing a different role her, so it's probably fine.

The idea to give the Mimikin's 'sisters' the name 'Mimikette' came from amf studios. I was originally just going to consider them 'female Mimikins,' but I liked the suggestion.

The idea for Katie's 'first yo-kai' being Noko, also came from amf studios.

The idea for Katie to get her Yo-kai Watch through a claw/crane machine came from the reviewer SuperSonicBros123

Hope the chapter was enjoyable, tell me what you think, if you want.

Also, I don't expect anything to come from this; but if anyone could make a TV Tropes page for this story, I would very much enjoy and appreciate that. I would do it myself, but I don't trust my own judgement to create something referring to my own work in such an objective sense. XD

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' "Hey, this is Nate! Life has been chaotic for me since this whole 'harem' thing started, though I guess it's been pretty chaotic in general since I got the yo-kai watch. But more importantly than that; why is Katie ignoring me!? I don't know why, but I can't get her to talk to me–hey, is that Rubeus J? What's he doing back here!? And why does he want ME!? HELP–Oh, he's down… huh, Venoct!? Why are you bowing to me!? Did you just say 'MASTER!?'"

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **This is a Misunderstanding!**


	11. This is a Misunderstanding!

**Chapter 11: This is a Misunderstanding!**

* * *

Through the air of an unknown location in the human world, the mighty flying fortress known as the Red Palace flew.

Within the palace's walls, the forces that served the mighty Rubeus J, the Dread Knights, were marching through the halls, all converging on the throne room, where their leader was calling a special meeting, for an important mission…

The terrifying nekomata sat on his throne, looking upon the many human soldiers that he had recruited over the years; two of his few yo-kai companions, a wolf-like humanoid, and blade-wielding, snake-haired woman, stood at both sides of his throne. A small snarl escaped the cat yo-kai's maw as his eyes narrowed.

There was much chattering among the Dread Knights as they anxiously awaited the moment their lord would say something.

Rubeus J raised a hand, and all the chatter suddenly quieted down. Standing up from his throne, the beastly yo-kai took several steps forward, "My servants, let's get down to business…" looking over the many Dread Knights, the nekomata nodded, "I won't dance around the issue… we nyeed to capture Nyathan Adams!"

Almost immediately after the statement from their master, the Dread Knights started wildly muttering, even more frantically than before.

"SILENCE!" the snake-haired woman suddenly snapped, which caused the room to go quiet once more. The female yo-kai smirked, turning to her feline master with a nod.

Rubeus J nodded back, before crossing his arms and glaring down at his army of bloodthirsty humans, "I want to be clear; Nyathan Adams is _nyot_ to be harmed but capturing him is nyow our top priority! Do I make myself clear!?"

"**YES, MASTER!**" the Dread Knights all chanted, with both fear and loyalty.

"Good, we'll be on route to Springdale soon," a smirk came to the oversized feline's face, "So it's only a matter of time.

"Sir, if I may," the snake-haired woman spoke up again, giving a respectful bow to the nekomata as he turned to her, before she gestured to the wolf-like yo-kai, who stepped over to her. "The two of us would like your permission to lead the capture of this 'Nathan Adams!'"

Rubeus J looked over his two subordinates with narrowed eyes for a moment, before nodding, "Granted; you two are among my most trusted servants, I knyow you will not fail me!"

"Thank you, master!" both the snake-haired woman, and wolf-man, chimed as they bowed.

* * *

Nate gave an unhappy sigh as he reclined on his bed, holding up a cellphone, staring at the text he had last sent to Katie, which she had yet to respond to…

"Come on Nate, it's the weekend! You shouldn't just stay in bed all day!" Whisper suddenly interjected, floating over the boy's bed, wearing sunglasses, and with a bodyboard in hand. "What are you doing looking all mopey? Let's head on down to the beach!"

Nate groaned, rolling over to look away from his butler, "Whisper, can't you just go by yourself? I'm not in the mood…"

"Well, going to the beach and having some fun in the sun is exactly what you could use to improve that mood!" Whisper insisted, tugging at the boy's arm, before he was suddenly swatted away, "Gah!"

"I said no!" Nate snapped, glaring at his butler, '_Besides, if I go to the beach, I just know I'm going to end up __**bombarded**__ by cute girls in swimsuits…_'

* * *

_The sun gleamed across the ocean surface, which was soon disrupted by a splash._

_Isabel and Amy, both clad in one-piece swimsuits, giggled as they splashed each other in the ocean, before turning to the beach and smiling brightly at the boy that stood on the sand, both raising a hand and waving._

"_Come on in Nate!" Isabel called eagerly._

"_The water's great!" Amy smiled, splashing a bit of the water in the direction of the beach._

"_Come on Nate! Come play with us!" the girls resumed splashing each other as their giggling increased._

* * *

A slight streak of red appeared across Nate's face, before he quickly punched his own head to remove that image from his mind, '_NO! __**EVIL**__ THOUGHTS! GO AWAY!_'

"Nate, you really need to stop hitting yourself…" Whisper commented bluntly as he floated back over, before he glanced over at the boy's nightstand and noticed a stack of books that he was sure weren't there before, "Huh… what's this?" he drifted over to read the title of the top book, "'Day-to-Day life with Vampire Girls?' What is this!?"

Nate let out a small groan as he glanced over, "Oh, those? Hailey lent me some of her harem manga…"

"Harem manga?" Whisper gave a questioning look.

"Yeah, she said they might be helpful with my… 'situation," the boy gave an annoyed sigh as he rolled around on the bed. "But I don't know what she thought I would get out of those stories; there's no help there! All the protagonists are complete wusses who just let the girls around them push 'em around, and never have the guts to just tell any of them they aren't interested!"

Whisper just gave Nate a blank look in response to his statement, "… Really? You don't see _any_ indication of a way to help your situation there…?"

"Nope," Nate answered bluntly.

Whisper just stared at his master for several seconds, a look somewhere between disbelief and disappointment on his face.

"Leave Captain Nyate alone, if he didn't see any help there, then there's nyo help there!" Sailornyan suddenly made her presence known, jumping out from under the bed and pouncing onto Whisper.

"Ah!? GET OFF ME YOU OVERZEALOUS FELINE!" Whisper started flying around the room frantically in an attempt to shake off the pink nekomata.

"NYEVER!"

Nate sighed, pulling himself up from the bed and walking over to block Whisper's path, before he simply grabbed Sailornyan by the scruff of her neck, and plucked her off the ghost.

"Nya…?" Sailornyan blinked in surprise.

Whisper gave a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank you Nathan!"

"Are you okay, Sailornyan? You shouldn't jump onto Whisper like that, you could have fallen and gotten hurt," Nate cooed as he stroked the fur of the purring nekomata he cradled in his arms.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Whisper gawked at the blatant display of favoritism. "THAT BEAST ATTACKED ME, AND YOU'RE CONCERNED_ SHE_ COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT!?"

Nate just gave his butler an annoyed look as he continued to hold Sailornyan protectively, "Whisper, she's a little girl, you're a grown man, get over it!"

"I–" Whisper raised a finger with the intent to speak in protest, when he suddenly found himself filled with unsure thoughts, "Wait, is that correct…? Ug… even for me, yo-kai ages are so confusing!"

Nate simply rolled his eyes as the butler started muttering various questions about how a yo-kai's age is quantified, turning his focus back to Sailornyan and giving her a gentle smile, "So, you alright?"

"Yeah," the pink nekomata purred, giving a cute smile.

"Honestly, Dear, you coddle that cat too much," Damona made herself known as she drifted in from the closet.

"Damona?" Nate blinked at the appearance of his 'fiancée,' letting out a small sigh, "Was wondering when you'd show up…"

Though the oni princess known as 'Damona' had declared herself as Nate's fiancée and moved into his house, she had decided to claim a room in the apartment to sleep in, for the reasons she gave of; 'a lady needs her own space,' as well as 'we're not married yet, and even if we were, we really shouldn't be sharing a bed for another good seven years or so.'

Nate hadn't questioned Damona on why them sharing a bed wasn't okay now, but would be in 'seven years,' and was just happy that she would have her own space, and not be around him 24/7.

… Though, she still found the time to be around him at any given chance.

The human boy huffed, shaking all those thoughts out of his head and focusing on the princess, "I don't think so, if anything, I'd like to coddle Sailornyan more!"

Sailornyan gave a pleased "Nya!" while Nate continued to pet and cradle her.

Damona rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Whatever, but don't blame me when she ends up a lazy wimp…"

"I wouldn't be too worried about _that_," Whisper muttered as he floated over to Damona. "The little beast attacked me out of nowhere!"

Damona blinked, giving Whisper a thoughtful look for a minute, before she smirked, "Huh, there might be some hope for that cat after all…"

"EXCUSE YOU!?" the butler gawked in disbelief, before drooping and letting out a defeated sigh, "Oh, whatever, I give up on trying to make sense of any of you!"

"Hm, were you still talking?" Damona sent an uncaring look Whisper's way.

Deciding he wanted to change the subject, Whisper floated back over to Nate, who had set Sailornyan down and was sitting on the bed again, "Seriously, Nathan, what has you so dejected right now?"

"Dejected?" Damona raised a brow, looking towards her fiancé questioningly.

"Nya?" Sailornyan's expression turned concerned.

"It's just…" Nate looked away, seeming a bit reluctant to explain, but continued anyway, "Katie hasn't been talking to me for the last couple days, in fact, she seems to be avoiding me…" he let out a long sigh as he drooped down onto his bed, "I asked Sarah and Alex about it, but they don't know anything, neither do Eddie or Bear… I sent her a text yesterday, asking if I did anything wrong, but she still hasn't responded…" the boy groaned as he held up his cellphone, checking again for a response, and like before; there was none. "I considered sending her another text, but it's probably not a good idea to bug her too much…"

"Oh, that's what's been bothering…?" Whisper's voice seemed to hold a bit more of an understanding tone than usual, the yo-kai butler looking at his master with a bit of sympathy.

"I see, so that is the reason for your mood…" Damona hummed thoughtfully, a gleam crossing her eyes. "Well then, I know the perfect solution to your woes, Honey!"

"Why don't I like that look in your eye?" Nate muttered uncomfortably.

Damona smirked, "Let's just capture the girl and _force_ her to talk to you! We'll make sure she doesn't ignore you anymore!"

Nate, Sailornyan, and Whisper, all stared at the oni princess with varying levels of dread and/or revulsion.

"No, please no!" Nate quickly shook his head, standing up and waving his arms, "Please, do _not _do _anything_ to Katie, or try to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do!"

"I can't just turn a blind eye to this girl being so disrespectful to my fiancé!" Damona countered, a dark aura surrounding her as her eyes glowed purple.

Nate started waving his hands more frantically, "She didn't do anything wrong! If she has some reason for not wanting to talk to me, the only thing to do is wait for her to be ready to say so! You can't _force_ her to talk!"

"Please, Miss. Damona, consider what your fiancé is saying!" Whisper supported, waving his arms in a similarly frantic manner.

"It's nyot nyice to force people to do things they don't wannya!" Sailornyan childishly added, also waving her arms around.

Damona's eyes remained narrow as she floated to the middle of the room, but the aura soon faded from her body, and her eyes returned to normal. Giving a huff, the yuki-onna/oni hybrid flipped her hair, "Fine, I won't take matters into my own hands here."

Nate and Whisper both gave heavy sighs of relief, while Sailornyan did a small cheer.

"Thank you, Damona," Nate put a hand to his forehead as he sat back down on his bed

"Whatever," the princess grunted, crossing her arms and looking away from the boy, a slight tint of red on her face.

Nate gave a small smile, before doing a small stretch and heading to the exit of his room, "Well, you were right about one thing, Whisper; it won't do me any good to just stay in bed all day!"

Whisper smiled brightly, "Oh, does that mean you're coming to the beach after all!?"

Nate blushed a tiny bit at the reminder of the beach (and his 'evil' fantasies…), but quickly shook his head, "No! I'm undecided on what I'll do today, but I'm at least going to get something to eat!" he gave a bit of a glare to his butler, before charging out the door and slamming it behind him.

"Unnecessarily loud, Darling," Damona commented, despite the fact her fiancé could not hear her.

"I wish I knyew how to help the captain feel better," Sailornyan sighed as she did a stretch on the floor.

Whisper crossed his arms with a disappointed look, "Am I really the only one who wants to go to the beach today!?"

The closet door suddenly slid open, revealing an enthusiastic Walkappa and Blazion, both with sunglasses over their foreheads, and holding baskets of beach supplies.

"Did you just say 'beach,' dude!?" Walkappa questioned with a big grin.

"RAH!" Blazion thrust a fist into the air as he cheered.

Whisper blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance, before his enthusiastic smile returned, "Alright, looks like we've got a party of three!"

* * *

"Mom, Dad?" Nate called as he came walking down the stairs, "I know lunch is soon, but do you mind if I get a snack? I'm feeling kind of…" the boy trailed off as he came into the living room, and spotted something… odd, on the couch.

"Food you say, son?" the humanoid wolf-creature, sitting on the couch, lowered the newspaper and gave a crooked smile. The creature was wearing Nate's father's clothing, despite them being badly stretched, due to not fitting the beast. "Well, I don't see a problem with that! Go grab some nice meat and chow down!"

Nate stared at his 'father' with a blank expression for several seconds, "Aren't you… one of Rubeus J's servants…?"

The wolf yo-kai twitched a bit, before giving an awkward chuckle, "I have no idea what you're talking about, son; it's just me, your father!"

Nate continued to stare with a blank expression.

"What are you going on about, sweetie? That's definitely your father!"

Nate gawked in response to the other voice, seeing a woman-like with snakes sprouting from her hair, wearing his mother's clothing and glasses.

"Honey, you shouldn't let Nate spoil his appetite with too many snacks!" the snake-haired yo-kai scolded in a very fake-sounding concerned tone.

"Uh, but just a few pounds of meat wouldn't matter much," the 'father' defended with a shrug.

Nate's eye twitched as he stared at the imposters, before something in his brain snapped, "Alright, I am not playing this game; WHERE'S MY MOM AND DAD!?"

The two yo-kai paused for a moment at the exclamation, but quickly resumed their (poor) acts.

"What are you talking about, son? It is I; your father, right here!" the wolf yo-kai exclaimed, patting the shirt that was stretched across his chest, and looked like it would rip at any moment.

"Yes, and I; your mother, am heartbroken that you would not recognize me after all the time I had taken to raise you," the snake-haired woman didn't sound very 'heartbroken' as she spoke.

"COME ON! YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY EXPECT ME TO BUY _THIS_!" Nate shouted, throwing his arms into the air, before thrusting them back down to point towards the imposters. "JUST TELL ME WHERE MY PARENTS ARE!"

"Calm down, son, what's this really about now?" the wolf questioned as he stepped over to the boy.

Nate stood on guard, his hand moving towards his yo-kai watch.

"I think it's about time you gave our son 'the talk,' Honey," the snake-haired woman suggested, in an unnatural manner.

The wolf-man nodded, "Right, we should do that; come along, son!"

Nate's eye twitched once more, gripping his yo-kai watch and gritting his teeth, "Alright; no, I've had enough of this. DAMO– "

The human boy's words were cut off when the two imposters suddenly sprang into action, pouncing on him, and before Nate knew it; he was tied up!

"Ha! Nathan, you fool! We are not your parents!" the wolf yo-kai laughed in triumph.

"Yes, you have been duped by our clever disguises!" the snake-haired woman cackled, before she threw off her 'disguise,' revealing her normal, purple and spikey attire, while she brandished a large sword she had seemingly pulled from nowhere. "For it is I; Madusword!"

**Eerie Tribe: Madusword**

"Along with I– "the wolf yo-kai threw off the clothing typically worn by Nate's father, swinging his ball and chain weapon with a mad laugh, "The fierce and mighty; Fenwrecker!"

**Tough Tribe: Fenwrecker**

The restrained human just glared in annoyance at the two yo-kai as they continued to laugh about how he had been 'fooled' by their 'clever' disguises… "Seriously; where are my parents!?"

"Enough talk! There will be plenty a time for that once you have been relocated to the Red Palace and are presented before Rubeus J!" Madusword sneered.

"Now, let us depart!" Fenwrecker howled, picking up the tied-up boy and setting him on his back, before running out the door, Madusword following, both laughing madly at their successful mission.

"DARN IT! TELL ME WHERE MY PARENTS ARE YOU DEMENTED DIMWITS! I DON'T CARE WHAT RUBEUS J WANTS! TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW! I AM IN NO MOOD FOR THIS KIND OF THING! I'LL SUMMON AN ARMY OF S RANKED YO-KAI TO DEAL WITH ALL OF YOU! I'M WARNING YOU!" Nate's enraged shouting and struggling went ignored by the two yo-kai as they charged out the door of his home, with him in hand.

"Dear, did you call for me…?" Damona questioned with a yawn as she drifted down the stairs, before she noted the ajar front door to the homes, just catching a glimpse of the departing forms of Madusword and Fenwrecker.

Floating the rest of the way down the steps, the yuki-onna/oni-hybrid took a moment to look through the living room and kitchen, noting the lack of her fiancé, and quickly concluding what had happened.

An aura of purple frost started to surround Damona as her face twisted from its usual impassive form into a snarl filled with rage. The princesses' hands curled into shaking fists, as her hair started to float upwards along with the energy surrounding her, and her eyes glowed, "So, someone thinks they can just come and take what's _mine_?" the angry snarl on her face soon shifted into the even more terrifying visage of a cruel smirk, "Very well then; whomever you may be, you've brought what comes next on yourselves! And I won't be coming alone!" letting out an evil cackle, the princess glanced towards the stairs she had previously descended from, '_It was about time I rallied my subordinates anyway…_'

* * *

Within the Red Palace, which currently drifted over Springdale, invisible to most that went about their lives below, one Nathan Adams had found himself restrained and brought to the throne room, the two yo-kai that had captured him standing at either side of him, and a large assembly of Dread Knights.

The overly-muscular feline ruler of the flying fortress smirked as he looked down at the captured human, "Nyathan Adams, AKA; the Yo-kai Master! It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Rubeus J…" Nate identified with a slight growl.

**Charming Tribe: Rubeus J**

"I see you recognize me," the large nekomata's smirk widened, revealing gleaming fangs, "Good…"

"Bet you were never expecting to see us again, huh? HUH!?" Fenwrecker howled as he lowered his head to Nate's level.

"Yes; now you've been captured by us! The loyal servants of Rubeus J, and your fiercest rivals!" Madusword taunted, waving her sword in front of the boy.

"Before today, I didn't even know what your names were," Nate responded bluntly to the triumphant twosome.

"Ha, as if we'd believe that!" the wolf yo-kai stood back up, laughing all the way, "Like you could forget your most persistent and hardy of foes; Fenwrecker!"

"And Madusword!" the snake-haired woman cackled, waving her sword about freely.

Nate just let out a long, annoyed sigh, before focusing on the feline leader, "Where are my parents!? What have you done with them!?"

Rubeus J's smirk turned cruel before he spoke his next, chilling words, "Oh, let's just say your parents are in some… _serious trouble_…"

* * *

"How many times do I need to say this; we DIDN'T even order anything!" Lily Adams growled as she glared at the man standing before her, a stack of fifty pizzas in his arms.

"Calm down, honey, I'm sure it's just a mistake," Aaron Adams tried to calm his wife, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Both parents of the Adams home were standing just a bit down the block from their house, where they were speaking with the pizza delivery man, standing next to the delivery truck.

And apparently, the argument that was currently taking place had prevented them from noticing when their front door had opened, seemingly on its own, and their son had seemingly floated out of the door, tied up…

"Look, there's no mistake ma'am, that was definitely you on the phone; you ordered fifty pizzas; two pepperoni, two cheese, three veggie– "

"I don't care what they are, I didn't order _ANY_ pizza!" Lily snapped, looking ready to attack the delivery man.

"No, you did ma'am, so that comes to, let's see… could you take these pizzas so I could get out my calculator?" the pizza man questioned in a dull tone.

Lily's eye started to twitch as a red aura formed around her…

"Sir, for your own good, I urgently request you leave," Aaron spoke up in a frightened tone.

"I'll leave once you take these pizzas that you ordered, and you pay the bill," the pizza man's tone was unconcerned.

"THAT'S IT! LET ME AT 'EM!" Lily roared, lunging towards the delivery man, shrugging off her husband's attempts to hold her back, and sending pizzas flying…

* * *

Completely unaware of the, frankly ridiculous, circumstances that were keeping his parents occupied, Nate took Rubeus J's words at face-value, "You… WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM!?" Nate raged, struggling to break free from the rope, but failing to do much more then fall onto his side.

Rubeus J let out a sadistic laugh, before stepping closer to Nate, kneeling down to look him in the eye, "Nyever mind those trivial details, Nyathan. You must knyow, I captured you for a _very_ important reason…"

Nate glared at the muscular feline hatefully, still struggling to break free, which only caused him to look a bit like a wiggling caterpillar, "And what reason is that!? What could you possibly want with me!?"

Rubeus J's smirk widened, "You see, Nyathan, what I want from you– "

Rubeus J's explanation was suddenly cut off when the front door of the room burst open, revealing a humanoid yo-kai floating off the ground, a scarf resembling two biting dragon-heads around his neck, and glaring at the large cat yo-kai with eyes full of hate, "RUBEUS J! THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT DETER ME FROM MY VENGEANCE!"

The attention of all in the room turned to the intruder.

"Venoct!?" Nate gawked at the unexpected appearance.

**Slippery Tribe: Venoct**

"Nathan!?" the humanoid yo-kai looked surprised when he caught site of the captured boy, before his rage reaffirmed as he looked to Rubeus J, "You scoundrel! Does your evil know no limit!? You would now stoop to holding innocent children hostage!?"

Rubeus J just sent an annoyed snarl the intruding yo-kai's way, "I don't have time to deal with your nyonsense right not! Dread Knyights, I order– "

Seems Rubeus J couldn't catch a break when it came to finishing his sentences today, as he was once more interrupted, by the entire front wall of the room coming crumbling down!

"Alright, I don't care who you are, or why you took my fiancé…" Damona spoke in a slow and dangerous tone, as she floated forward from the dust clouds brought on by the destroyed wall. "But you made a huge mistake!"

Several Dread Knights immediately charged for the new intruder, "HOW DARE YOU CAUSE DAMAGE TO–AAAAAHHHH!" the human warriors were thrown aside by a wave of purple frost before they could even get close enough to land a hit in.

"_As _I was saying," the dark princess hissed as she glared at the downed soldiers, before turning her focus back towards the ruler of the fortress. "You have made a _HUGE_ mistake! And neither I, nor any of my subordinates, will stand for it!"

"Damona!?" Nate called out with both relief and a bit of worry, before he paused at what she had said, "Wait, 'subordinates…?'"

The human boy's inquiry was answered moments later, as the dust clouds cleared to reveal that Damona was _not_ alone.

"I won't forgive **anyone** who would take my darling away from me!" Blizzaria growled, a chilly aura of frost circling her body, her eyes glowing blue with rage.

"You picked the wrong human to kidnap, buster!" a scowling Toiletta clutched her fists, a dark aura emitting from her form.

"I wonder what would happen if I were to make it so you could _never sleep_…" Insomni started, her single eye narrowed and glowing red.

"And, if _I_ were to make it so you'd _sleep forever_…" Sandi continued, her green eye gleaming with hatred.

"At the _same_ time!" the twin djinn shared a sadistic smirk.

"Anyone who would dare to take my knight captive deserves no mercy from me!" Camellia voiced in a tone of outrage, her body glowing slightly.

"UNHAND THE CAPTAIN!" Sailornyan roared as fiercely as she could, standing on four legs with her tails pointing straight up.

Those exclamations were only a few that sounded from the various female yo-kai who were following Damona in her attack. There were a few male yo-kai too, such as Swelterrier, and Faux Kappa, but they were _significantly_ less.

Rubeus J stood tall in opposition to the invading forces, watching as they quickly dispatched his various human soldiers, and gave a snarl, "I don't care what this boy is to any of you, disrupting of my weaker forces does nyot intimidate me in the slightest!" holding a hand up, the red nekomata looked to his two yo-kai soldiers, "Madusword, Fenwrecker! Show these fools– "

Rubeus J couldn't even finish his orders before he, Madusword, and Fenwrecker were all hit by a barrage of attacks, including, but not limited to; ice blasts, fire blasts, water blasts, psychic assaults, energy absorption, sleep inducing hypnosis, insomnia inducing hypnosis, and just straight plain physical attacks…

Throughout the ensuing, and very one-sided, battle, Venoct could only watch in stunned silence as the invading army completely decimated Rubeus J, and his forces…

"Hmph, such insolence," Damona dusted off her hands as she floated over the beaten feline, along with the various other yo-kai that had accompanied her.

"Let's freeze this whole place and _shatter_ it, so they'll **never** try this again," Blizzaria hissed, a slightly crazed look in her eyes.

"Not this time," Damona held up a hand of denial to the other yuki-onna, before turning her focus to her still tied-up fiancé. "Let's just focus on getting Nate out of here before we worry about the fate of these insignificants."

Nate just stared in wide-eyed silence, glancing at all the fallen Dread Knights, who (thankfully?) weren't dead, but _very_ badly beaten…

"Come, Honey, let's return home," Damona smiled as she drifted down to her fiancé.

"I-uh-okay…" Nate could barely find any words to speak, blushing a bit as Damona brought him into her arms and began carrying him out of the fortress.

"Hey! Why do you get to hold Darling like that!?" Blizzaria jealously demanded as she chased after her lookalike.

"Hey, he's my true love! Give him here!" Smogmella voiced as she followed Blizzaria.

"We should carry him! There's two of us, so we can best support him!" Insomni and Sandi exclaimed excitedly as they quickly flew by.

"I WANNYA HOLD THE CAPTAIN!" Sailornyan screeched as she quickly scurried forward.

"Hey, did we even contribute anything significant?" Faux Kappa questioned, he and the other male yo-kai trailing a good deal behind the females. "I feel like this would have gone mostly the same without us…"

"I… wouldn't worry about it," Swelterrier shrugged, trying to hide his dreadful expression from the kappa, before giving a nervous grin.

Venoct just stood by, continuing to watch as the large force of yo-kai marched out of the Red Palace, as if the job they had just done in defeating Rubeus J, and his forces, had been nothing more than a simple annoyance. The once-human-boy didn't know what to think; how could such a thing be possible!?

"C-Curse you, Nathan Adams…!" Rubeus J managed to speak, weakly raising a fist into the air, shaking it after the retreating army, before he fully succumbed to his injuries, and passed out…

Venoct paused, his eyes widening as he took in the words from Rubeus J, thinking about the events that had just occurred, and the meaning of it all, '_… Of course, it all makes sense!_' without a secondary glance to his fallen foe, the humanoid yo-kai floated up into the air, before following the trail of the departing army of yo-kai, and one human…

* * *

"Damona, everyone, thank you, but I really just want to go find my parents!" Nate managed to express his urgent concern to his fiancée and other yo-kai companions, as the former sat him down safely in Triangle Park. "Rubeus J said they were in trouble, and I can only imagine what he could mean by that!"

The male yo-kai had already (very quickly) vacated the area, leaving the human boy alone with the females…

"I can assure you; your parents are _fine_, Nate," Damona stated plainly, floating in front of the human boy, crossing her arms. "I would have noticed if any sort of yo-kai interference had taken them! My senses are top of the line!"

"If your senses are so good, how did those rapscallions manage to make off with our dear Nate, so easily?" Blizzaria scoffed in a chilling tone.

The yuki-onna-hybrid immediately turned to glare at the pure blood, "You watch your mouth! Don't forget _who's_ top of the food chain here!"

"We'll see how _long_ that lasts," Blizzaria scoffed under her breath, slowly backing away from the dark princess.

"I heard that!" Damona's glare hardened.

"Don't worry, Sweetie, everything will be fine!" Insomni cooed as she floated over to Nate's left side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Your parents are okay, I'm sure! And we'll do whatever it takes to make sure you have nothing to fear!" Sandi assured as she put a hand on Nate's right shoulder.

"Um, th-thanks…" Nate looked at the ground as his face turned red. "B-But I still want to make sure they're okay…"

"Nya!" Sailornyan made herself known as she hugged Nate's leg, "Don't worry, Captain Nyate! We'll find your parents in nyo time!"

Nate's flustered expression turned to a calm smile as he caught site of the little pink kitty, reaching down to pet her head, "Alright, I… I'm still worried though, but I trust you guys can find my parents and make sure no harm will come to them…"

"No need to worry about that!" Faux Kappa suddenly announced, walking back into the park, briefly giving a nervous glance to the various female yo-kai, before focusing on the human boy with a big grin, "Saw your parents on the way back to the apartment! They're fine!" he managed to give out a chuckle, "Seems Rubeus J was full of hot air!"

Nate looked skeptical for a moment, but seeing no signs of deception on the classic yo-kai's face, he nodded and gave a small sigh of relief, "Oh, thank goodness…"

Seeming satisfied that the boy was calming down, Faux Kappa quickly retreated once more.

"There, see, they're fine!" Damona nodded, floating back over to Nate, and glaring at the djinn sisters, "_Move_."

The twins glared back at the dark princess, possessively grabbing hold of the human's arms, "Never!"

Nate gave a nervous gulp, his face going red once more, noticing how, not only were Insomni and Sandi getting possessive of him against Damona, the other female yo-kai were also closing in, an air of tension becoming clear and slowly intensifying…

"There you are, I'm glad I caught up to you!"

The sudden appearance of Venoct had the fight over Nate, momentarily, cease.

"Why's he here now?" Damona questioned, her irritation showing no signs of diminishing.

"Yeah, what's up with this?" Sandi scoffed, she and her sister crossing their arms and pouting, in unison.

Venoct paid no mind to the various questions and signs of displeasure of the females, keeping his focus fully on Nate. "I am ashamed to say, though I gifted you my medal, I never took recognition of your skills as a commander!" the humanoid spoke with reverence, bowing his head to the human boy.

"Er… what?" Nate blinked, his expression turning blank.

"Master! I hereby pledge my absolute, and undying, loyalty to you! And only you!" the Slippery Tribe yo-kai exclaimed with a voice of respect and conviction.

The sheer sincerity of Venoct's declaration had the various females, even Damona, at a loss for words.

Though, none was more lost, than Nathan Adams himself, "Huh…?" the boy took a moment to process what he had heard, before he was finally able to react, "_WHAT!?_"

* * *

"NATHAN, I'M HOME!" Whisper announced gleefully as he barged into the Adams home, still wearing his sunglasses and carrying his bodyboard from earlier, though a bit of water was now dripping from the board. "Blazion, and Walkappa both decided to hang back at the beach a bit longer, but I decided to head home a little early!" the yo-kai butler floated into the house, looking around, trying to spot his master.

"Hey, Whisper," Nate let out an annoyed groan from his position on the couch. "Didn't you only leave, like, thirty minutes ago? That seems like a _bit_ sooner than 'early…'"

Whisper let out a small, fake, cough, tossing the bodyboard to the ground as he floated into the living room, "Well, Nate, I simply felt the overwhelming urge to return to you; as a top class butler, I can't rightly leave my master alone for too long! What if something were to happen to you, and you didn't have me to assist you!?"

Since he was looking away from him, Whisper couldn't see it, but at those previous few words; Nate's eye twitched…

"And, in case the completely unfounded thought had crossed your mind, I did not rush home in such a hurry because of anything 'embarrassing' happening to me; like me attempting to use my bodyboard, getting swept up by a wave, tossed back on the beach, and covered with sand and seaweed!" Whisper let out an awkward laugh, subtly tossing away a piece of seaweed he noticed stuck to his back. "What in the world would give you that idea!? You have quite the imagination, Nathan!"

Nate just sighed with annoyance, still not turning to look at his butler.

"… Nate?" though the white spirit felt some relief his master seemed to have no intention of calling him on his lie, he couldn't help but start to get concerned by his overall mood, "Are you still upset about Katie not talking to you…?"

"I would appreciate _not_ being reminded of that," Nate almost hissed, finally glancing over his shoulder and sending the butler a tired glare, "But… no, that's not my primary concern right now…"

Whisper crossed his arms, a slight bit of annoyance in his expression, "Well, if that's not the problem, what's your new reason for being in such a bad mo– "

"Master!" a humanoid shadow suddenly jumped out from seemingly nowhere, landing between Nate and Whisper, frightening the butler.

"AH!?" Whisper fell back our of fright, before he rebalanced himself, and got a good look at the yo-kai that was now position before him, "Venoct!? What in the world are you doing here!?"

Venoct silently stared at Whisper, his eyes narrowing, before turning back to the human boy, "I know this is your butler, Master, but are you sure he is trustworthy? He could be an assassin, trying to gain your trust…"

"EXCUSE ME!?" Whisper's eyes bulged out of his head from shock and outrage, "DID YOU JUST ACCUSE ME OF BEING AN ASSASSIN!?"

Venoct didn't react at all to the yo-kai butler's outburst, still looking towards the human for direction.

Nate sighed, putting a hand to his head to ease his headache, "Don't worry, Venoct, Whisper's no assassin, I'm sure."

Venoct still regarded the butler with a bit of suspicion, but nodded, "Very well, I will trust your judgement, Master!" the S-Rank yo-kai bowed to the human again, before glaring sharply at the white djinn, "But, should he try anything, I will not hesitate to take matters into my own hands…"

Whisper could just gulp fearfully in response to the threatening look.

Nate let out another sigh, which slowly turned into an agonized moan.

Letting out a few awkward coughs, Whisper floated over to the front of his master, trying his best to ignore the sharp eyes of Venoct following his every movement, "Erm, Nate… what is… _this_ about, exactly?"

Nate raised a finger to answer, but Venoct beat him to it.

"I have seen the value in following Nathan Adams, and have pledged my absolute, and undying loyalty to him, from now, until the end of my existence as a yo-kai!" Venoct spoke with conviction, his eyes gleaming, and the heads of his dragon scarf snapping their jaws.

Nate slowly lowered his finger, giving a low groan, "Yeah; that…"

"Swear your undying–_WHAT!?_" Whisper suddenly gained a defiant expression as he processed what the other Slippery yo-kai had said, "Hold on! Is this edgelord-ninja-wannabe trying to take my job!?"

"_What?_" both Nate and Venoct blinked confusedly over how the butler had referred to Venoct.

"No, I will not allow it!" an aura of determination formed around Whisper as he glared at the humanoid yo-kai, "I may not have always been the best butler I could possibly be, but I will not just stand by and let someone, with absolutely _no_ butlering experience, swipe my position out from under me!"

"Whisper, he's not after your job," Nate grunted, having managed to regain his sentence, and annoyance, quickly.

"I will fight for my position, no matter how low the odds of my victory are, I–wait, he's not?" Whisper paused, boxing gloves that had appeared on his fists disappearing just as quickly, and inexplicably. "Then… what did he mean by pledging his 'loyalty' to you!?"

"He– "Nate's attempts to explain were, once more, interrupted.

"I have come to understand what a brilliant tactical leader, young Nathan Adams is!" Venoct spoke loudly, and with reverence, "This boy–no, not boy–this young _man_, successfully outwitted and outmaneuvered the forces of Rubeus J, allowing them to believe they had captured him, while simultaneously directing his forces to strike when they had least suspected it, resulting in overwhelming victory!"

Whisper just stared with a blank expression, "I'm sorry, but could you run… _all_ of that by me again...?" the butler used a finger to clean out one of his, nonexistent, ears, "I think I may have heard wrong…"

Nate groaned even louder than before, throwing his arms into the air as he jumped up from the couch, and onto his feet, "Alright, enough! None of that is right, this is all a big misunderstanding– "

"Now, now, don't go getting all modest now, Honey!" Damona suddenly interrupted, twirling out from just around the corner of the room, giving a devious smirk as she looked her fiancé's way. "After all, it was_ you_ that had all of us unite against that _horrible_ beast and his army. And if this guy thinks following you will be the best course of action for him, it would be just cruel to turn him away!"

Venoct stood up straight as he stared directly into Nate's eyes, "Master, I swear, I will give you my absolute loyalty, one hundred percent! I would follow you to the end of the Infinite Inferno if you requested it! I have complete and total trust in your ability!"

Nate nearly tore out his hair from frustration, "She's _LYING_, Venoct! I'm no tactical leader! I've never even been able to win a match against another player in an RTS game!"

Venoct's eyes shone with reverence, "So humble, even after such an impressive victory! I'm now even more sure of my choice to follow you; _two_ hundred percent certain! I will follow you to the end of infinity, Nathan Adams, and make it my duty to ensure no one will do you harm!"

Damona gave a small snort of triumph, covering her mouth with one of her sleeves.

Nate just stared at his new, apparent, bodyguard, his eyes twitching a bit, before he just let out a long sigh, raising his hands to show he had given up, and collapsed back onto the couch.

"… Master?" Venoct blinked, unsure why his 'master' suddenly seemed so lethargic.

Whisper continued to float in the air, unable to come up with, really, any words to convey his confusion to the current situation, finally; he found something to focus on; "Wait, Rubeus J _captured_ you!?"

"Rubeus J, is he back!?" Toiletta suddenly popped out of the bathroom, looking around with frantic eyes, a scowl on her face.

"Where!? They're not trying to take Darling away again, are they!?" Blizzaria roared, phasing through the ceiling, looking ready for a fight.

"We don't have any mercy left, if they do!" Insomni and Sandi chimed as they came shortly after the yuki-onna.

The human started to feel a sense of dread, wondering if he should try and find some kind of escape route…

"CAPTAIN!" Sailornyan pounced on Nate from out of nowhere, preventing any plans of escape, and opening the flood gates for the other girls to do the same.

"Honey, if you are going to be hugged, it shall be I who shall hug you first!" Damona all but demanded as she floated over to the boy.

"WE WANT TO CUDDLE THE CUTIE!" Insomni and Sandi screeched. "FOR HIS PROTECTION!"

"MINE!" Blizzaria was rather straight to the point…

Venoct watched with a blank expression as they various girls proceeded to pounce on Nate, and begin struggling to hug him, while pushing their rivals away, and the boy struggled to escape their grip, or at least find room to breathe. "… Hmm, what sort training exercise is this? Interesting…"

Whisper gave the ninja-like yo-kai a look of disbelief at his apparent obliviousness, shaking his head with disappointment, and trying to ignore his master's cries for help, '_Still, I can't help but wonder… what would Rubeus J want with Nate in the first place!?_'

"Somebody, please! H-Help!" Nate struggled for breath amongst the entangling embrace of the many female yo-kai.

* * *

"Oh, this is nyot going to end well…" the oversized nekomata that was Rubeus J sweated profusely as he paced in the hall of the Red Palace.

But what could have the ever-intimidating Rubeus J so intimidated himself? Was it perhaps the recent defeat he had been handed by the forces of Nathan Adams? No! If it were merely a defeat, the muscular feline would have simply shrugged it off, seen it as a reason to get stronger! No, what Rubeus J feared, was not recognition of defeat…

So then, what? What could leave the master of the Red Palace in such a state of unease?

Rubeus J let out a long breath, he stared at the door that he had been pacing in front of for the last ten minutes or so; the _bright pink_ door, which stuck out like a sore thumb against the crimsons and blacks that decorated the rest of the hall.

'_I suppose I can't put this off forever…_' the oversized beast relented, before his body was enveloped by a swirl of dark energy, which almost immediately faded, to reveal the form of the nekomata had changed; he was still larger, and more muscular than the average nekomata, but he had shrunken down to less than half his height, he was also squatter, as if his previous form had been squished; overall, while still threatening, this new form was far less imposing than the one Rubeus J typically presented himself in.

The muscled feline let out an unsure sigh as he looked over his form, '_I doubt it will make a difference, but maybe she'll be more inclined to go easy on me if she sees I switched to this form…_' he let out another heavy sigh, knowing there wasn't much chance of anything calming _her_ down, after this failure…

Carefully, he inched his fist closer and closer to the door, before finally giving it a soft knock.

A few moments of silence passed, before some shuffling noises could be heard from behind the door, before a cheerful, young female, voice called out, "Who is it? Is that my prince!?"

Rubeus J gulped, his expression turning to one of terror at the eager tone to the female's voice, "Er, n-no, P-Princess, it's… Daddy…"

Another bout of silence filled the halls, Rubeus J's nervousness as he awaited a response…

"… Come in," 'Princess' responded, after a few seconds of silence.

Rubeus J took another deep breath, before pushing the door open, and stepping into the room…

The room was large, filled with expensive things; mostly jewels and toys, and pink; very, very _**pink**_, the walls were pink, the majority of the toys were pink, the large bed that sat in the center of the room was pink, filled with pink pillows and plush toys.

And, the nekomata seated on the bed, staring right at Rubeus J as he entered the room, was pink…

**Charming Tribe: Prancy-nyan**

As the smaller feline looked at the other yo-kai, her eyes lit up, and a childish smile sprung onto her face, "Daddy! You turned into your Lightside form!" leaping off the bed, the pink Nekomata happily ran to hug her father.

"Y-Yes, well… you're always ask me to spend less time in Shadowside, so I figured, why nyot?" Rubeus J chuckled nervously as he hugged his daughter back, dreading what he would have to tell her soon, knowing her good mood wasn't going to last…

"Oh, this must be a special occasion!" Prancy-nyan cheered as she danced around the larger cat, letting out a happy giggle, before looking around eagerly, checking behind her father, and looking towards the door to her room. "So, where is he? Where's my prince!?" she gave another eager giggle as she started calling out, not noticing how nervous her father was, "Oh, Nyate! Where are you!? Your princess would like to see you!"

Rubeus J gave a small cough, bringing the attention back to him, "Erm, Princess, there's, um… been a complication…"

Prancy-nyan paused, blinking; as if she had trouble understanding the words that were said to her, "Com… plication…?" she seemed to feel awkward speaking the word, her expression going blank, "What do you mean, _Daddy_…?"

Rubeus J muttered something under his breath, refusing to look his daughter in the eye.

Prancy-nyan's eyes narrowed, "_What_ was that…?" her ears twitched, she glanced around the room again, her expression turning slightly frustrated, "Daddy, _where _is my prince?" she nearly snarled as she looked back at the terrified feline, "I _always_ get what I _want_, I told you; I _wanted_ the Yo-kai Master, Nyate! So, where _is_ he!?"

Rubeus J was now shaking like a leaf, he muttered something once again; a _tiny_ bit louder, but still too softly to be heard.

"_What_?" Prancy-nyan growled, "I can't_ hear_ you, Daddy! Just tell me where Nyate is, _**NYOW!**_"

Rubeus J gulped down all his fears, did his best to put on a brave face, and looked his 'Princess' straight in the eye, "Nyate… isn't here, I… couldn't get him for you."

Something seemed to snap in Prancy-nyan at that statement, her pupils dilated, and her body started to shake, she stared at the larger nekomata, before letting out an unnerving chuckle, "Aha, good one, Daddy! For a second there I almost believed you!" the pink feline let out a few more chuckles, before speaking seriously, "_Really_; where is Nyate!?"

"I-I wasn't joking," Rubeus J stated, his expression one of pure terror, "I'm… I'm sorry, P-Princess, but… I'm afraid this is one time where it seems you can't get what you want…"

Prancy-nyan's entire body stiffened, her eyes going dark.

"… Princess?" Rubeus J questioned, both worry and terror in his tone.

"Did you just say…" Prancy-nyan's eyes widened, staring up at her father with a blank expression, "That I _can't_ get what I _want_?"

Rubeus J flinched, "P-Princess, I know you're used to getting whatever it is you want, but I just can't– "

"I _CAN'T_ GET WHAT I _**WANT**_!?" Prancy-nyan nearly exploded with rage, stomping a foot on the ground as she kept glaring at her nervous father, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GET WHAT I WANT!? I _ALWAYS_ GET WHAT I WANT! _**ALWAYS**_! **AND I **_**WANT NYATE**_**! GET ME NYATE, **_**RIGHT NYOW**_**!**"

Before Rubeus J could speak any words in his defense, the bratty nekomata had already run back over to her bed and had started tossing pillows and plush toys at him.

"**I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT! I WANT NYATE! I WANT HIM! I WANT HIM! I WANT HIM!**" Prancy-nyan raged as she kept throwing the pillows and toys from her bed at her father, her shouts growing louder with every item she threw. "**GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!**"

The soft pillows and plushies bounced harmlessly off Rubeus J's muscled body, but he still looked frightened by his daughter's tantrum, walking backwards towards the hall, "W-Well, I can see you nyeed some time to process this, so I'll just– "

"**SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME!**" Prancy-nyan roared as she tore the blankets off her bed, threw them on the ground, and then proceeded to jump off the bed and start tearing through her room, throwing everything she could get her paws on, and turning the previously organized room into a chaotic mess, "**GET OUT! AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK UNTIL YOU BRING ME MY PRINCE! I WANT HIM! I WANT HIM!**"

Rubeus J just nodded silently as he made his way out of the room, closing the pink door behind him, and letting out a relieved sigh once he was back in the hall, the sounds of his daughter's continuing tantrum echoing through the halls. "That… went better than expected."

* * *

A bug net hit against a tree, a frustrated grunt sounded as the net missed its intended target, and the beetle flew away.

"Darn," Katie grit her teeth as she pulled her net back, using her sleeve to wipe some sweat from her brow.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" the golden hopping-snake that followed the girl around cheered, bouncing up and down rhythmically.

"Thanks for the words of encouragement, Tsuchi," the girl spoke in a sarcastic tone as she sent the reptilian yo-kai a half-glare.

"Noko!" Tsuchi either didn't notice, or didn't care about, his partner's annoyance, continuing to give cheers.

Katie shook her head with a sigh, putting her bug net over her shoulder, looking around the other trees of Mt. Wildwood, trying to see if there were any other bugs worth catching.

"Noko…" Tsuchi hopped after the girl, his tone taking on a slightly concerned tone as he looked towards her pocket.

Katie blinked, glancing at the yo-kai, then down at her pocket; the pocket where she kept her phone… with a frustrated grunt, Katie turned away from the snake, "I'm fine! I just need… some time to myself, okay!? Is that _so_ much to ask for!?"

Tsuchi just silently stared…

"Okay, so maybe I could have texted Nate back, or something, but can you blame me for being upset!?" the brunette girl stomped a foot on the ground angrily. "Did he keep this from me because he thought I wouldn't believe him!? Or did he not trust me enough!? How many times was I the victim of some mischievous yo-kai that he needed to _save_ me from!? It makes me feel like I was powerless! If he had just told me…" Katie blinked, realizing she was rambling, and that the snake yo-kai was just staring at her… Katie's eyes narrowed as she looked back at the tsuchinoko, "SHUT UP!"

"Noko?" the Heartful yo-kai blinked, tilting his head in confusion.

Katie just huffed, stomping off, to continue her bug hunting.

The girl moved back over to the shrine, stopping to rest for a moment by one of the komainu statues, before glancing down the trail that led further into the woods, narrowing her eyes as she prepared to head in…

"So, you still haven't talked to Nate?"

Katie froze in her tracks at the voice, before her expression turned to one of anger, glancing back behind her, "And what business of _yours _would that be, _Kyubi_?"

The fox yo-kai gave a small snort, standing by the komainu opposite to Katie's, crossing his arms with an indignant expression, "You can't avoid him forever; you're going to need to talk about this eventually."

Katie turned fully to face Kyubi, crossing her own arms as she gave a sarcastic laugh, "Oh, are you trying to _lecture_ me, now? Because I'm sure that's _exactly_ what I need; advice from Mr. '_Manipulates girls into giving him their hearts!_'"

Kyubi flinched at the girl's criticism and tone, but quickly regained his footing, "Okay, I get it; I never claimed to be a _good_ person, Katie! And, my 'morality' isn't the point here!" the fox yo-kai made quotation signs with his fingers as he spoke. "The point is you've been giving Nate the cold shoulder ever since I told you what was going on, and it's not good for either of you!"

"Noko?" Tsuchi caught up, hopping slowly, and glancing between the girl and fox, who both ignored him.

"Oh please," Katie rolled her eyes as she looked away from Kyubi, "The only reason you've been pushing for me to talk to Nate, is because you feel _guilty_!"

"Yeah; I'm selfish! What of it!?" Kyubi snapped, raising both arms into the air out of frustration. "That doesn't change the fact that I'm right; you can't go on like this! You need to _talk_ to him!"

Katie only had the briefest expression of consideration, before it almost immediately went back to defiant anger, "Whatever; I don't _need_ to do anything! And, all I _want_ to do; is catch bugs!" she raised her net to make a point, before she continued marching down her intended path; into the woods.

"Noko!" Tsuchi called out, hopping after Katie.

Kyubi simply stood back and watched, a disapproving look in his eyes, which quickly gave way to one of sympathy as he let out a guilty sigh, "What have I done…?"

* * *

Back at the Adams residence, the front door opened, as the two adults of the home entered, both looking somewhat tired.

"Well, at least that was resolved," Aaron sighed as he trudged, alongside his wife, to the living room.

"Are you _kidding_ me!?" Lily looked like she wanted to kill somebody, "That pizza guy has to have been the most stubborn, annoying, and _irrational_ person I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with! You should have just let me punch him in the face!"

Aaron sweatdropped nervously at his wife's rage, "Honey, I know it was aggravating, but an assault charge would do us no good; Nate's probably worried enough of where we've been as it is!"

Lily's anger seemed to deflate a bit at the mention of their son, "Yeah, I guess… wasn't expecting it to take that long to deal with that, where is he…?"

"Mom, Dad!" Nate pounced on his parents, nearly the moment they stepped into the living room, hugging them from around the waists, "You're back!"

Both parents were a bit surprised by their son's sudden affection, but they soon gave soft smiles, and hugged him back.

"Sorry about disappearing on you, Sweetie, there was an… unexpected issue," Lily spoke in a soothing tone as she stroked her fingers through the young boy's hair a bit.

"Yeah, we hope you weren't too worried, son," Aaron gave a small chuckle, patting the child on the shoulder.

Nate pulled away from his parents, nodding and smiling to them, "I was fine, but I got worried when I couldn't find you earlier, so please leave a note if you're going to disappear like that…"

"We'll try to remember that," Lily assured, stroking her child's head a bit more, before pulling back when she noticed someone staring at her intensely, someone she didn't recognize, "Hold on, who's that? Did you invite a friend over, Nate…?"

Nate took a brief moment to process his mother's question, '_Wait… I forgot that everyone could see Venoct!?_' before the boy could think of something to say in response to this revelation, Venoct had already positioned himself between Nathan and his parents…

"Master, step back! These people may be a threat!" Venoct warned, keeping his eyes on Lily and Aaron, who just glanced to each other with baffled expressions.

Nate released an aggravated sigh, "Considering they're my _parents_, I _highly_ doubt that!"

Venoct took in his 'master's' words, though his defensive stance remained, "Maybe, but we must consider the possibility of the long con…"

"The '_long con_?'" Nate gave an incredulous look.

"You can never be too sure," Venoct's voice held a wise tone, which directly contrasted the absurdity of his point.

"I'm sorry, what's going on? Who are you?" Lily questioned with a blank expression, looking down at the 'child.'

"Nate, did he call you 'Master…?'" Aaron asked, scratching his head confusedly.

"He, um…" Nate struggled to come up with an explanation for Venoct, glancing away from his parents as he started to sweat a bit, "He's a kid I met a while ago, and he likes to play ninja a lot… yeah, that's it!"

Venoct gave the human boy a strange look but didn't speak.

Lily nodded, though she still seemed a bit unsure, "Oh, well I guess that's… cute? Though, I wish you'd have informed us before inviting a friend over…"

Nate glanced away, a sweatdrop forming on his head, "He… kind of invited himself…"

Venoct kept glancing between Nate and his parents, his wariness gradually fading, and his stance relaxing.

"Well… I'm happy to see you still making new friends," Lily spoke in an assuring tone, though she still seemed a bit unsure as she looked at Venoct.

Aaron gave a smile, offering a hand to the humanoid yo-kai, "Hi there, I'm Nate's father; Aaron Adams, and might I ask what your name is, young man?"

Venoct jumped back at the outstretched hand, staring at it with critical eyes… before it became clear there was no hidden 'trick,' or anything of that sort, and it was simply an offer of a handshake. Venoct slowly reached out with his own hand, grasping the human man's, and looking up at him, "V-Venoct… my name is Venoct…"

Aaron released the 'child's' hand, giving an interested look, "Venoct, huh? Well, that's a name I can say I haven't heard before, is it Western?"

"I'm… not entirely sure," Venoct's eyes shifted towards the ground, "But… I'm pretty sure, I'm at least, Japanese…"

Nate just watched the interaction with a slight bit of astonishment; if he didn't know better, he'd almost say that Venoct seemed like a normal kid… though something crossed his mind, that had he turning focus to his mother, "Hey, isn't 'Nathan' commonly a Western name…?"

Lily blinked, before smiling awkwardly at her son, "So is 'Lily,' Springdale is a very 'Western-influenced' area and has been for a long time."

"Huh…" Nate nodded his head slowly, "That… answers some questions I've had for a while…"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Aaron Adams!" Venoct gave a respectful bow, before turning and doing the same for Nate's mother, "And you as well, Lily Adams! I apologize for my initial suspicions, but it is my duty to ensure my master's safety, against all possible threats, no matter how unlikely!"

"That's… nice?" Lily nodded, unsure if Venoct was really 'playing' or not, he sounded_ very_ serious…

"Hey, Nate, you want to play some Hyper Bash Family!?" Toiletta loudly questioned as she came walking down the stairs, before she noticed Nate's parents, "Oh, hey; you guys are back!"

"Hello, Hanako; sorry if we worried you," Lily gave a motherly smile to the 'transfer student.'

Toiletta flinched, glancing away, "Er… I wasn't worried…"

Nate rolled his eyes at the bathroom-dwelling ghost's reaction, giving a small smile.

"So, er… as I was saying," Toiletta gave a few, fake, coughs, stepping into the living room, "Nate, do you want to–"

"Halt!" Venoct interrupted, jumping between the newly arrived yo-kai, and the human boy.

"Wha!? You!?" Toiletta gawked at the sudden interruption.

"Oh, Toiletta!" the male yo-kai greeted, after a moment of recognition, "I did not notice it was you! Well done, in the battle against Rubeus J's forces earlier!"

"Toiletta?" Lily's eyes squinted a bit.

"What's he talking about…?" Aaron questioned with confusion.

Nate immediately started waving his hands in front of his parents, trying to distract them from the two yo-kai, "Uh, it's a game! It was a game! A game, yeah!"

Seeing Nate had the distraction covered, for the moment, Toiletta glared at the Slippery yo-kai, before letting out a hiss, "Don't call me 'Toiletta' around other humans, call me 'Hanako.'"

This seemed to confuse the yo-kai boy, "But, you are Toiletta; one of Master Nathan's subordinates, are you not?"

"I… what?" Toiletta blinked, shaking her head, before pulling Venoct over to her and whispering in ear, "Look, man; I don't know what you're on about all this 'master' and 'subordinate' stuff, but you need to be a _bit_ more subtle when referencing yo-kai stuff around Nate's parents."

"Explain," Venoct whispered back, giving a blank expression.

Toiletta groaned, "His parents don't know about the existence of yo-kai, and we can't just casually reveal that to them, especially since they probably couldn't handle it." '_Plus, they'd probably be uncomfortable with the idea of their son dating a bathroom-dwelling ghost-girl…_' she kept that last point to herself.

"I see…" Venoct nodded slowly, taking in the other yo-kai's words. "Yes; we don't want to get them involved with matters they wouldn't understand, nor can we make them targets for Master's, no doubt, numerous enemies, who would try to use them as hostages to gain the upper hand against him, or worse…"

Toiletta stared at the male yo-kai for a moment, an unreadable expression on her face, before she just nodded, "_Sure_, whatever you say; so long as you get with the program."

Venoct nodded again, before turning back to Nate, and his parents, and giving a stiff wave, "Yes; as I was saying, I am normal human-boy, Venoct, and I was doing normal, human– "

Toiletta grabbed the Slippery yo-kai by the dragon-scarf, pulling him away, releasing a moan of agony, "No, none of that! Let me _try_ and explain this to you, _again_!"

Nate and his parents collectively blinked, glancing to each other in shared confusion…

Damona floated in a corner of the room, laughing at the entire display, "Oh man, you can't _pay_ for entertainment this good!"

Nate sent a, subtle, glare in his fiancée's direction, which she innocently ignored.

* * *

The streets, and sidewalks of Shopper's Road were bustling with activity; many cars passed by, people walked from one area to the other, many conversations flowing through the air, mixing into an overwhelming, incomprehensible, symphony.

Nate, along with his family, and Toiletta (along with the unseen Whisper, Damona and Sailornyan) walked along the sidewalk, making their way towards Flower Road.

Not far behind the group, Venoct ducked out from the surrounding crowds of people, looking around suspiciously, before sneaking to another point, to continue his 'hidden' observation, either not noticing, or not caring about, all the strange looks he was getting from the various humans.

"Did he _have_ to come with us?" Toiletta questioned, putting a hand to her face out of embarrassment. "I don't think he even understands the meaning of 'fun…'"

"As he is engaged to royalty, it only makes sense that Nathan and his family would have someone guarding them," Damona gave a haughty chuckle, shrugging as she drifted just out of Toiletta's line of sight. "Though, as a mere _servant-girl_, I wouldn't expect you to understand that, of course!"

Toiletta grit her teeth, restraining herself from shouting at Damona, not wanting to look like she was shouting at nothing in public, or for Nate's parents to think she was crazy.

"Well, we couldn't just force him not to follow us," Aaron said, scratching his head unsurely.

"Well, we _could_," Lily countered, coolly, "But… that wouldn't have been right, he doesn't seem to have anywhere else to be, and if he wants to keep playing as Nate's 'ninja bodyguard,' or whatever he's doing, I suppose there's little harm in it."

"Aside from, maybe, to my mental health…" Nate muttered under his breath, so nobody else could hear him.

"I will admit, Venoct seems… diligent," Whisper spoke up, looking back at the other Slippery Tribe yo-kai, as he seemed opened up a manhole to check for traps/spies/whatever. A sweatdrop formed on the yo-kai butler's side, "Though, is there, perhaps such a thing as _too_ diligent…?"

"In _this_ line of business? You wish," Damona scoffed, floating ahead of the butler in order to position herself at her fiancé's side. "Bodyguards to royalty, or those associated with royalty, need to be on _constant_ lookout! You never know where an assassination attempt could come from!"

"Really, would people really try and hurt the captain…?" Sailornyan questioned with worry, walking on all fours, glancing up at the dark princess.

The innocent expression of concern from the pink nekomata almost gave Damona pause, before she shook her head and gave a small cough, "Well… probably not, not at the moment, anyway…" the yuki-onna/oni gave a nonchalant expression, "But, we should be careful; even if word about our engagement hasn't gotten out yet, Nate is known pretty well in the Yo-kai World, as the 'Yo-kai Master…'"

"Please, _don't_ remind me," Nate grumbled, feeling the wave of embarrassment he associated with that title incoming.

Damona rolled her eyes, before continuing, "So, since he's kind of a symbol for the idea of 'friendship between humans and yo-kai,' there are probably some who would like to see him gone, or at least slandered, that was probably what the whole 'Rubeus J kidnapping' was about, come to think of it…"

* * *

"Achoo!" Rubeus J let out a sneeze, wiping his nose, before letting out a low growl; seated in his throne.

And, the sounds of Prancy-nyan's tantrum were still echoing through the walls of the Red Palace…

'_I hope I'm not getting a cold,_' Rubeus J let out a groan, rubbing his head, in hope of easing his headache a tad, '_I can't afford to get sick now, I need to figure out how to get that boy, so my little princess will finally give us some peace!_'

* * *

Damona blinked, a strange look crossing her face, "… You ever get the feeling you've been made a fool of?"

"_All _the time," Whisper responded with a tired groan.

Nate crossed his arms, giving the yo-kai annoyed looks.

"Nate, keep up!" Toiletta called from the entrance to Flower Road, where she stood, along with his parents, waiting for the boy to catch up.

Nate nearly facepalmed, before he sped up, "Coming!"

"_Don't_ run ahead of me, Darling," Damona hissed, trailing behind the boy at a fair speed.

"I will make sure nyobody hurts Captain Nyate!" Sailornyan cried out with determination, speeding forward.

"What? Are _you_ trying to be a bodyguard now!?" Whisper just shook his head as he followed along.

Venoct jumped out from a mailbox, startling several people. The humanoid yo-kai glanced around, before swiftly following the way his master went…

* * *

A piece of sushi was grasped and lifted by chopsticks. Dipping it in soy sauce, Nate prepared to plop the food into his mouth.

"Master!" with a swift motion from his dragon scarf, Venoct knocked the sushi out of Nate's chopsticks.

"Venoct!?" the human boy cried out in protest, glaring at the humanoid yo-kai seated in the chair beside him. "Why did you do that!?"

"It could have been poisoned!" Venoct stated with conviction.

"Poisoned, my _sushi_?" Nate gave the yo-kai a tired expression.

"Yes, you can never be sure, Master!" Venoct exclaimed, "From now on; you shouldn't eat anything, without having me test it first!"

"… _Test_ it?"

"Yes, my life cannot be ended nearly as easily as yours, but I am expendable, while you are not!" Venoct's eyes burned as he spoke in a serious tone, "I may not suffer from poison, but I can detect it! It only makes sense for me to test your food!"

Before Nate could voice any protest, Venoct reached out with his dragon scarf and grabbed a piece of sushi from his plate, bringing it up to his mouth, and eating half of it.

"… This piece is fine, Master; you may eat it!" Venoct announced, holding up the half-eaten sushi to the human boy.

Nate silently stared at the food; a look of annoyance etched on his face…

"I'm not sure I understand this game…" Lily muttered from her seat, staring at the interaction between her son and the 'ninja,' an unsure and slightly concerned expression on her face.

"Don't worry about it, they want over the rules extensively, it's fine," 'Hanako' assured in a dull tone, seated beside Lily, munching on a piece.

Lily glanced down at the young girl, before glancing back at her son, who was still glaring at the half-eaten piece of sushi Venoct was holding, "Well… if you say so…"

"It looks like they're having fun to me!" Aaron smiled, sitting in the next seat over from Toiletta.

Damona drifted up behind the group, unseen by the parents, and gave a small chuckle, "My mother and father-in-law should really be more observant, that won't do for when the wedding comes around…" she hummed, putting a hand to her chin, "I'll need to do something about that, at some point… I wonder how they'll react when they meet me…"

"What are you talking about?" Whisper questioned, crossing his arms and giving the princess a suspicious look.

Damona barely gave the butler a glance, "Oh, nothing, nothing at all…" she let out another chuckle as she drifted away.

* * *

"Stand back, Master!"

"Venoct, that's a _cat_!" Nate scolded from behind he overprotective yo-kai.

Venoct just glared down at the passing feline, refusing to take his eyes off it, "Yo-kai can disguise themselves, Master! You cannot let your guard down!"

After finishing their food at the sushi restaurant, Nate's family had decided to continue shopping around Flower Road, which is what had led to the current situation of Nate being forced up against a wall, with Venoct standing defensively in front of him, and a normal cat walking by…

"Seriously, Venoct, it's just a cat," Nate gave a low growl of annoyance.

"Yeah, I can tell!" Sailornyan assured, stepping over to the humanoid yo-kai and giving an assuring wave. "It smells like an ordinyary cat to me!"

"Hmm…" Venoct kept watching the cat as it disappeared down an alleyway. "If you say so…"

Nate let out a small groan as Venoct moved away from him, allowing the boy freedom of movement once more. He glanced over at where his parents stood, a few meters away; looking around at the various shops while people passed by.

"We still haven't decided what shop to go into next," Toiletta spoke up from beside the boy, startling him a bit. "In case you were wondering…"

Nate scratched his head, sighing a bit, "Thanks… Hanako."

"No problem," The female yo-kai smiled, walking past the boy. "Do try not to hold us up too much, for the rest of the outing, if you can help it…"

Nate frowned a bit at the mention of 'holding things up,' before sending a subtle annoyed look Venoct's way, '_I've got a figure out a way to get him to let up a bit, at least for a little while…_'

Sailornyan stared up at Nate with a curious expression as he stood with a thoughtful look, "Nya…?"

"Is something the matter, Master?" Venoct questioned, giving the human boy a curious look.

"Uh…" Nate blinked, seeming unsure of what to say, "Say, Venoct, do you think you could, maybe… loosen up a bit, on the whole, 'protecting' me, thing…?"

"What do you mean? Am I not adequately preforming the task of keeping you protected? I am keeping a watchful eye for the numerous threats out and about!" Venoct spoke assuredly, eyeing the various people that passed by.

"But you don't need to protect me from _everything_; you know that, right?" Nate pleaded with a slightly desperate look, "You can cool down a bit, just… have some fun?"

"Fun?" Venoct blinked, looking like he was having trouble understanding the concept. "I understand you are capable, Master; but that is irrelevant! I have sworn to stand by your side, and act as your sword and shield! I will not relax in that duty, not for one moment!"

Nate gawked as a fiery aura started emitting from the shouting yo-kai, "But– "

"NOT ONE MOMENT!" Venoct enforced. "I cannot fall short in the task of serving and protecting you, Master! I have sworn absolute loyalty to you, and I will commit my all to that task!"

Nate stared at the humanoid yo-kai, dread coming to his expression as the gravity of what Venoct was saying fully hit him, '_S-Seriously, he's never going to stop this nonsense!? I can't do this! I can't! I need… I need to find some way to get him to leave me alone!_'

Nate did his best to keep his panic internal, not wanting people to be staring at them any more than they already were. He took a deep breath, before an idea came to the boy. A small smirk formed on Nate's face as he looked back at the yo-kai, "Um… Venoct, you know… there is something you could do to better… uh, 'serve' me…"

"There is…?" Venoct blinked.

"Er, yeah, there's…" Nate nervously scratched the back of his neck as he tried to come up with something, "The immediate area might be important, but… uh… there are many enemies that will probably be… attempting to enclose the surrounding area!"

Venoct stared at Nate, before nodding, "Of course; that makes sense!"

"Yeah!" Nate quickly nodded back. "They, uh, will want to box us in! So, we can't escape!"

"The fiends!" Venoct clenched his fist.

Sailornyan went slightly cross-eyed as she kept listening to Nate and Venoct.

"So, could you maybe, patrol the entire area? I'll be fine for the moment, after all; I do have Toiletta, Damona and Sailornyan with me. But you, I need to trust you with this task, to make sure there aren't any incoming threat from anywhere else in the area!" Nate spoke seriously.

"I understand, Master! I will do this task and return to you as quickly as possible!" Venoct bowed, before floating up, and passing through the ceiling of Flower Road.

Nate let out a sigh of relief as he watched the yo-kai leave, before he heard a 'tsk' sound, the boy glanced over his shoulder, to see Whisper crossing his arms, a look of disapproval on his face, "What?"

"Don't you think that was a little cruel, Nathan?" the yo-kai butler pointed out, his expression unchanging.

"Wait, what just happened?" Sailornyan questioned, scratching her head. "Didn't the Captain just send Venyoct on an important mission…?"

Nate let out a long, guilty sigh, "No, Sailornyan, that was… just to get rid of him…"

Sailornyan stared at Nate for several seconds, before she put her front paws to her mouth and let out a loud gasp, "You… _LIED_!?"

Nate drooped, "Yeah… I lied…" he put a hand to his face while shaking his head, "I just needed a break from that guy."

"Lying isn't the solution to that, Nate, you should have just told him to back off!" Whisper scolded, wagging a finger.

"I _tried_! It's like he lives in his own world or something!" the human boy loudly moaned, both hands going to his face.

Sailornyan patted Nate's leg sympathetically, "It's okay, Captain, I understand."

"I understand as well," Damona spoke up, floating behind Nate. "When the servants get too bothersome, busywork is a good distraction for them."

Nate twitched slightly from Damona's sudden appearance, and Sailornyan gave a small hiss.

"Did you just say you use 'busywork' as a distraction for servants…?" Whisper gave the yo-kai princess a look of disbelief. "Have you no respect for the level of work we servants put in for the likes of you!? At least Nathan has the decency to be guilty about sending Venoct off on 'busywork!'"

"Not making me feel better," Nate commented with a sigh.

"There's nothing to 'feel better' about, Dear," Damona scoffed, floating around the boy and placing a hand on top of his head. "You are going to be a king someday, now is as good a time as any that you learn how to deal with those below you!"

Nate let out a low, uncomfortable moan, waving his fiancée's hand away from his head. "Venoct's not 'below me,' no matter what he's convinced himself about me, he's my friend. But I don't know how to deal with the way he's being right now, he won't listen to reason!"

"That attitude's not going to do you any good on the throne, Honey," Damona shook her head, repositioning herself into a mid-air sitting pose.

"Would you stop trying to corrupt young Nathan with your feminine wiles!?" Whisper hissed angrily.

"I'm sorry, my _what_?" Damona gave the butler a strange look.

Nate just chose to ignore them, kneeling down and petting Sailornyan on the head, "I'm sure Venoct will be fine, he feels like he's helping… and it will at least give us a break for the moment, to continue with…" the boy paused, standing up and looking around, "Wait… where did Mom, Dad and Toiletta go!?"

"Nya…?" Sailornyan looked around the surrounding area of Flower Road; various people she didn't recognize passing by, but no sign of her captain's parents, or her 'rival.' "NYA!?"

"I know Toiletta said to hurry up, but they wouldn't just ditch me… right?" Nate's body shook a bit as he looked around once more, trying to spot any sign of his parents… "R-Right…?"

"I WILL NYEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE, CAPTAIN NYATE!" Sailornyan declared, clinging to the boy's pantleg.

"Nate, what's wrong?" Whisper questioned, turning away from his argument with Damona.

"Hey, don't turn from me!" Damona snapped, before she noticed her fiancé's state, "Um, Honey, you okay…?"

"I… I need to find Mom and Dad!" Nate suddenly exclaimed, before rushing off through the crowds.

"NYEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE, CAPTAIN!" Sailornyan shouted, chasing after the boy.

"Nathan, hold on!" Whisper called out. "The best thing to do in this situation would be to _STAY PUT_! Your parents could come looking for you at any moment!"

Nate didn't seem to hear his butler.

"NATE!" Whisper called again, moving to chase his master.

"Tedious…" Damona muttered under her breath as she also followed…

"Look, Nate's right over– "Toiletta walked over to the spot Nate was, just moments before, and paused, "… Nate?"

"Nate…?" Lily came just behind the ghost girl, looking around with worry when she didn't see her son, "Nate!?"

"Nate!?" Aaron also called as he walked up next to his wife, "Where are you, son!?"

* * *

"Mom! Dad! Where are you!" Nate called out frantically as he ran around the area just outside Flower Road. "Mom!? Dad!?"

"Nate, stop this!" Whisper yelled as he followed the boy. "Your parents are probably still in Flower Road; they wouldn't simply leave without you!"

Nate paused, glancing at his butler, before a sweatdrop formed on his head, along with an embarrassed look, "Oh… yeah, they wouldn't…"

"They probably just entered a store or something while they were waiting for you to catch up…" Whisper scratched his head, "A bit irresponsible, I admit, but it seems unlike them to just abandon you, even if you are capable of walking home on your own!"

"Right, right, makes sense, makes sense…" Nate nodded a few times, taking some deep breaths to calm down. "Sorry… I panicked…"

"It's alright, Captain!" Sailornyan cheered, "Let's go back and find your mom and dad!"

"Y-Yeah…" Nate nodded, looking down at the pink nekomata, before nodding to his butler, "Thanks Whisper, you were… surprisingly helpful."

Whisper smirked with pride, "Well of course I–wait, what do you mean '_surprisingly_' helpful!?"

"Oh, so now we're going back… _yah_," Damona muttered sarcastically, already turning around to float back to Flower Road.

Nate took a few more breaths, starting on his walk to return to the shopping area, and hopefully to locate his parents, and Toiletta…

"NATE!" a female voice suddenly exclaimed.

Blinking, Nate stiffly turned around… and spotted a familiar, and rather _terrifying_ girl, running towards him.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU'D BE HERE TODAY!" the girl giggled as she stretched out her arms, ready to embrace the boy.

"Lizzie!?" Nate's eyes went wide with terror at the incoming brunette, finding his legs frozen, and unable to move as she came charging in, clinging to his arm.

"Oh, I been waiting to see you again, Nate. You _never_ left my mind since our last fateful meeting, not _once_!" Elisabeth exclaimed with a wide, slightly manic smile, her pupils small and shaking. "And you felt the same, right!? Every moment apart from me is agony for you, right!? **RIGHT!?**"

"Uhhh… yeah…?" Nate whimpered, feeling helpless within the crazy girl's grip.

"I knew it! You would never want to be apart from me if you could help it! Why can't we just be together all the time!? **IT'S NOT FAIR!**" Elisabeth screeched, before pressing her cheek up against Nate's. "I still dream about you, you know!"

"Oh, y-you do…?" Nate subtly tried to pull away from the girl, but it was no use…

"Who's this girl, nyow…?" Sailornyan questioned, glaring at Elisabeth with a moderate amount of intensity.

"Someone you should feel lucky cannot see you, Sailornyan," Whisper commented with an expression that was a mix between disturbed and sympathetic.

Damona looked interested, giving a hum and crossing her arms, floating close to the entrance to Flower Road, keeping an eye on Elisabeth and Nate.

"Um, L-Lizzie, it was nice to see you, but I…" Nate tried, and failed, to pull away again, "I really need to go, my parents are probably looking for me, and– "

"GO!?" Elisabeth's eyes widened, before she forced Nate to look her in the eyes, "Why would you EVER want to leave _**ME!?**_"

Nate shivered with terror, "I-I don't _want_ to, but I need to, I, uh…"

"Yo, Liz! Where'd you run off to!?" another female voice interrupted, this one sounding a good deal calmer than Elisabeth's.

Nate glanced in the voice's direction, spotting a girl around his age stepped through the crowds, making her way over. The girl had shoulder-length raven hair, blueish-green eyes, and pale skin. She held herself confidently, and was dressed in a purple, long-sleeved blouse, with a white skirt that reached down to her knees.

"Hm, who's this…" the girl brushed aside a lock of her hair, giving a slight smirk when she gave a good look over Nate, "Well, _hello_ there, cutie!"

Nate felt a wave of intense dread pulse through him, '_Oh no…_'

"Get lost, Rei, this is _MY _Nate!" Elisabeth hissed hatefully.

"Geeze, you don't have to get like that, Liz, we're friends, aren't we?" the black-haired girl brushed aside another lock of her hair, sending a mischievous smirk Nate's way, "Though I will say, I don't think I've met him before, maybe I should at least introduce myself…"

Elisabeth growled, tightening her grip on Nate's arm.

'_Please, someone help me…_' Nate thought desperately.

Rei seemed unbothered by Elisabeth's unstable state, moving forward and looking Nate in the eyes, "Greetings; my name's Rei Sendou, I'm one of Lizzie's classmates. Do you, perhaps, go to our school?"

"_MY NATE!_" Elisabeth lunged forward and snapped her jaws at Rei, but the other girl simply moved back with a chuckle.

"Nate…?" Rei paused, tapping a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "I feel like I've heard that name, somewhere before…"

"YEAH, BECAUSE I TOLD YOU; HE'S MINE!" Lizzie snarled at her 'friend.'

Rei seemed unconcerned, waving dismissively at her classmate's display, "Yeah, yeah. But, before that… I know I've heard about this guy before, I think he's been mentioned quite a bit in the rumor mill lately…"

'… _This isn't good,_' Nate thought, sweating a bit, as he could imagine what sort of rumors had been circling about him…

Rei hummed again, circling around Elisabeth and Nate, before her eyes lit up with realization, and her grin widened, "Oh! I remember now; the 'Harem Master!'"

Elisabeth's eyes flashed a demonic red as she snarled, "Don't call him that! He doesn't have a harem! He _**HAS ME!**_"

Nate, wisely, chose not to speak…

"I've actually heard quite a few of the young ladies at our school have an interest in him," Rei's giggled a bit as she kept her eyes on Nate, "And I can definitely see _why_…"

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean I won't hurt you, Rei," Elisabeth hissed, her eyes twitching.

Nate glanced towards his yo-kai companions for potential help, but Whisper was blatantly trying to ignore the situation, Sailornyan looked like she wanted to do something, but didn't know what and panicking a bit, and Damona… looked like she found the situation entertaining…

Nate internally screamed as he realized there was no way out of this!

"Come on, Liz, don't be so selfish; sharing is caring," Rei smirked as she moved closer, grabbing hold of Nate's other arm.

"MINE!" Elisabeth frothed at the mouth a bit.

"You really should see a doctor at some point…" Rei muttered, a sweatdrop forming on her head.

"_**MINE!**_" Elisabeth roared ravenously.

'_Somebody, please, get me out of this!_' Nate internally screamed.

"MASTER!" Venoct suddenly jumped out from a nearby crowd of people, grabbing the boy out from the arms of the young girls, and flying off with him.

Elisabeth and Rei both froze in surprise at the sudden event, neither looking sure what to think.

"… Wait, who did that!? Bring back my Nate!" Elisabeth shouted in outrage, which only grew as she couldn't spot where the assailant had gone.

"Huh, well, that ends that I suppose…" Rei shrugged, ignoring her classmate's increasing rage. '_I'll have to keep a look out for that boy at school, he seems… interesting…_' the black-haired girl giggled a bit to herself at that thought.

Unseen by the two schoolgirls, the trio of Whisper, Sailornyan, and Damona departed in the direction Nate and Venoct had gone…

* * *

As it turns out, Venoct had not actually taken Nate very far; just to the other side of the entrance to Flower Road, but the activity from all the people around made it difficult for Rei or Elisabeth from spotting them in the crowd.

"Master, are you alright?" Venoct questioned with concern, setting the boy down and bowing his head to him.

"Y-Yeah, thanks…" Nate muttered, rubbing his head, relief washing over him now that he was away from the two frightening girls.

"I'm glad, though I must apologize!" Venoct spoke with shame as he dropped onto one knee.

"Huh…?" Nate blinked.

"Though it was to assist you, I had abandoned my job of surveying the area, as you had ordered! Do what you will of me, Master, I will accept any punishment you see fit!" Venoct said with resolve in his voice, looking up and straight into the human's eyes, and ignoring all the strange looks he was still being given by passing people.

Nate stared at the yo-kai, many different feelings going through his mind, guilt, confusion, nervousness, and more. After a moment of processing, the boy just sighed and shook his head, "It… it's fine, Venoct. I'm not going to punish you, I'm grateful for your help, and… I lied to you, anyway…"

"Huh…?" Venoct gave a confused look at that admittance, rising to his feet again, "What do you mean, Master?"

Nate gave a long, guilty sigh, "Look, it was wrong of me, I know, but; I just asked you to look around the area to get rid of you for a bit, it wasn't because of any approaching enemies or anything…"

Venoct blinked, seemingly taking a moment to process everything, before he glanced to the ground, "I see…"

Nate sighed again, "Venoct, I – "

"Master, you have impressed me once more!" Venoct suddenly announced, bowing to the boy again.

Nate froze, before his expression turned to a gawking one, "Ga-HUH!?"

"To think I didn't realize it at the time, it was such an obvious test!" Venoct rose back up, nodding his head.

"T-Test!?" Nate's mouth hung open, "Venoct, I don't think you– "

"To send me off on a false mission, and then to deliberately allow yourself to be put into danger, you were trying to see how quickly I could come to your aid in an unexpected situation! You are truly one of a kind, Master!" Venoct's eyes shined with respect as he stared at the boy.

Nate's eye started to twitch, and he felt like his brain might be melting… "Venoct, no! That isn't– "

"Well, glad to see your new servant isn't unreliable, Dear," Damona suddenly interrupted, floating over and nodding in Venoct's direction. "Though I was a bit disappointed for that show's ending…"

Nate stared at Damona, raising a finger to speak.

"CAPTAIN NYATE!" Sailornyan rushed over, pouncing onto the boy and clinging to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"S-Sailornyan…?" Nate winced, glancing down at the crying nekomata.

"I'M SORRY, I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU! I WANTED TO HELP YOU, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Sailornyan wailed, burying her head in the boy's chest.

Nate looked down at the feline yo-kai, and was unable to think of anything to say, so he began petting her head.

"Well, I'm glad that all worked out after all," Whisper smiled as he also floated over.

Nate glared at his butler but said nothing.

"Nate!"

The boy blinked at the familiar voice calling him, before he noted the figure coming out of Flower Road, "Mom!"

Spotting her son, Lily began running over to him, soon followed by Aaron and Toiletta.

"There you are!" the relieved mother smiled as she moved to hug her child.

Sailornyan jumped out of Nate's so Nate could return his mom's hug.

"Where were you!?" Toiletta growled as she walked over.

"Where was I?" Nate blinked, separating from his mom and looking between his parents and Toiletta, "Where were you!?"

"We were just looking in the window of the clothing store, son," Aaron stated with an awkward smile.

Nate froze up, his eyes going wide, "W-What, but I couldn't see you anywhere!?"

Lily gently petting the boy on the head, "There were a lot of people, you probably lost us in the crowds," quickly hugging the boy again, she sighed, "We probably shouldn't have allowed you to lag so far behind in the first place, I'm sure you were scared, I'm so sorry…"

Nate let out a small cough, averting his eyes from his mother, a slightly embarrassed look on his face, "I wasn't scared…"

After a bit more assurance of the boy being alright, Nate and Venoct (as well as the unseen Whisper, Sailornyan and Damona) rejoined the group, to continue the day out, the rest of which went off with little incident of note…

* * *

After returning home, Nate had spent some time playing video games with Toiletta. Venoct had watched with a bit of interest, but had not accepted the offer to join in.

After a while, Nate had ended up going to his room to rest, which is where he resided now…

Nate gave an unhappy sigh as he stared at his phone; still no new texts… '_Katie… why won't you talk to me?_'

"Hey, Nate! Your mom says to wash up, dinner's almost ready!" Toiletta called out from the door, waving a hand.

Nate looked up from his phone, forcing a smile and nodding to the ghost girl, "R-Right, I'll be there in… a few minutes…"

"… Don't keep us waiting," Toiletta's eyes narrowed slightly, before her expression suddenly changed to an affectionate smile, waving again, before slinking off.

"… Right," Nate nodded to himself, sparing his phone another disappointed phone, before pocketing it, '_Nothing I can really do about it, she'll tell me what's wrong when she wants to… hopefully…_'

"Master!" Venoct suddenly popped up beside the human boy.

"GA-HUH!? Venoct!?" Nate gasped in surprise, almost falling over.

"Your parents currently occupied preparing dinner, shall I patrol the perimeter to make sure no enemies take advantage of this momentary distraction!?" the humanoid yo-kai questioned, giving a bow.

Nate stared at Venoct blankly for several seconds, before giving a defeated sigh, "Eh, sure…"

Venoct nodded, before standing up straight and giving a salute, "Understood! I will complete this task, post-haste, Master!" giving one last nod, the dragon-scarfed yo-kai rushed out of the room, through the window, and began his 'patrol.'

Nate just stared at the window for several seconds, before putting a hand to his forehead and letting out a long sigh. Shrugging his shoulders, the boy exited the room, to wash up for dinner…

* * *

Katie held up her cellphone, staring at the unanswered text from Nate, an intense frown on her face… before she let out a sigh, her expression changing to a melancholier one.

Opening the text, Katie started typing down a reply, but after several key presses, she shook her head, erasing everything she wrote, and started again…

'_Nate, I want to talk to you, but…_' Katie shook her head again, erasing the message, and starting over. '_Nate, we need to talk! I know you've been keeping things from me, and I…_' shaking her head harder, the girl let out a frustrated groan as she erased the message.

Pacing the floor of her room, the girl's intense look returned, her brow furrowing as she tried to think of how to approach this matter…

"Noko…" Tsuchi watched the girl from her bed, blinking a bit with confusion in his eyes.

Katie sighed again as she stopped pacing, before holding up her phone and forcing a goofy grin, and began typing once more, '_Wazzup, buddy!? Sorry about giving you the cold shoulder, but the funniest thing–_ '"NO! NO! NO!" Katie facepalmed, hard, as she deleted all that she had just typed, "Why is this _so_ hard!?"

"Noko!" the snake yo-kai offered, bouncing on the bed a bit.

"_Thanks_ for the advice," Katie sarcastically muttered, glaring at the yo-kai. She gave a depressed sigh as she closed her phone, flopping onto the bed. "Sorry, Tsuchi, I'm just a bit…" the girl seemed unsure of how to finish her sentence.

"Noko, noko!" Tsuchi bounced over to Katie's head, giving a gentle lick to her cheek.

The girl tried her hardest to keep a straight face, but her expression eventually cracked, and she started giggling, "Alright, stop Tsuchi!" she laughed, sitting up and picking the snake yo-kai up.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" Tsuchi cheered, wriggling in the human girl's arms.

Katie laughed again, sitting back on her bed, setting the Noko on her lap, before letting out a troubled sigh, "I don't know what to do, Tsuchi. In a way, I understand why Nate didn't say anything to me, it's not exactly an easy topic to breach with just about anyone, but…" the ponytailed girl looked up at the ceiling, her expression turning unreadable, "I don't know, I guess I thought, out of everyone, I was the friend Nate could tell anything… it sounds kind of bigheaded when I say it out loud," she let out another chuckle, this one sounding a bit hollow.

"Noko…?" Tsuchi tilted his head, giving his human friend a curious look.

Katie's chuckle died down into another sigh, she pet the snake yo-kai on the head, "I just want us to be how we used to be, maybe that's selfish of me, but even without all this 'yo-kai' stuff… I've felt like ever since the 'harem' nonsense began, my friendship with Nate has been… shaken…"

"Noko, noko, noko?" Tsuchi nudged his head against Katie's chin.

Katie snorted a bit, smiling at the yo-kai, "You're an endless ball of optimism, you know?" she pet the reptilian yo-kai again, "Nate's one of my best friends, I don't want to lose him, not over this 'yo-kai secret,' and not this 'harem' nonsense either…"

"Noko, noko-noko?" Tsuchi blinked, staring at Katie with narrowed eyes.

Katie stared at the snake yo-kai, her eyes going and a slight tint of red appearing on her face, which quickly faded, "W-What!? No, Tsuchi, I do _not_ have a crush on Nate! I just said we were _best friends_!" the girl huffed, taking the snake yo-kai off her lap and setting him beside her, before she crossed her arms and turned away from him, "Besides, even if I did have a crush on Nate, it's not like it would matter; Nate has so many options for potential girlfriends, and he'd never consider me!"

Tsuchi gawked at Katie for several seconds, before angrily ramming into her side.

"Ow! Tsuchi, what the heck!?" the brunette girl questioned in shock.

"NOKONOKONOKONOKONOKO!" the Noko shouted angrily, bouncing up and down rapidly, before jumping off the bed and hopping out the door, "NOKO!"

Katie watched her yo-kai companion storming out, her expression turning blank, "… I'm not sure I'll ever fully understand that snake…"

A sudden ringing caught Katie's attention before she could consider pursuing her yo-kai friend, holding up her phone, Katie's face lit up at the name being displayed, before she quickly answered, "Hey, Emma!"

"_Hey, gal-pal, what's up!?_" Emma's enthusiastic voice called out through the phone. "_Was thinking about hitting the arcade again, you in!?_"

Katie held back a lighthearted chuckle, "Emma, it's almost dinner time, I can't just go out right now! Your parents let you go out at this hour?"

Emma took a moment to respond, "_… Oh right, curfew…_" she gave an embarrassed giggle, "_I forgot about that, sorry Katie! My parents probably aren't going to let me go out either, I wasn't thinking!_"

"Hey, don't worry about it, happens to all of us!" Katie assured, though internally she couldn't help but feel there was something a bit _off_ about how her friend had just spoken.

"_So, anything else you want to talk about? I'm here for you if you need it, girlfriend!_" Emma assured, her voice carrying a whimsical energy to it.

"Anything…?" Katie used her free hand to fiddle with her yo-kai watch a bit, a thoughtful look crossing her face, "Well… there are some things I'd like to talk to someone about, there's somebody else I probably should be talking to about it, but… I don't really know how to approach them right now…"

"_Hmm… that sounds troubling, what's going on?_" Emma questioned, her voice taking on a sympathetic tone.

"I suspect you might already have some idea," Katie tightly grasped her yo-kai watch, a suspicious look briefly crossing her eyes, "But, I won't dig into you about that right now."

"_Oh, thanks!_" Emma voiced.

Katie wasn't sure if that 'thanks' was any indication of what Emma knew what she was referring to or not, but didn't want to dwell on it, "Let's just say; I've recently become privy to a… secret, my friend has kept from me, and it's not anything really bad, or something like that, but… I don't know, I can't help but question why he didn't tell me about it, did he not trust me? Did he think I couldn't handle it? Did he just want to keep it from me…?"

Emma hummed thoughtfully, "_Well, I can't say for sure what your friend's intentions were, but I'd say it's likely you weren't even on his mind in regard to his 'secret.'_"

Katie blinked, "… Huh?"

Emma chuckled, "_You keep questioning on why he didn't tell you about this, but surely you're not his only friend, right?_"

"Well… yeah?" Katie didn't seem sure of where Emma was going with this.

"_Well, do you think he told any of his other friends this 'secret' of his?_"

"I…" Katie paused, she wasn't sure, but she was pretty sure Eddie and Bear did not know about Nate's 'yo-kai secret…' "I don't think so…"

Emma chuckled again, "_Well, if that's the case, why would you be any different?_"

"I…" Katie found herself unable to think of a reply, "It's just… different? I don't know…"

"_Do you tell him every secret you have?_"

"No, but…" Katie was nearly at a loss for words.

"_Katie, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but… I think one of the things you need to accept here isn't just that he kept this secret from you, it's also that; this isn't about you,_" Emma said in a more serious tone.

"… What?" Katie blinked in confusion.

"_Just, think about it, okay?_" Emma's voice took on a gentler tone. "_And, when you get the chance, try talking to him, at the least…_"

"… I'll think about it," Katie sighed, confusion still evident in her eyes. "Thanks, Emma…"

"_No problem, gal-pal!_" Emma's voice giggled. "_So, anything else you got on your mind? Or you just want to chat about nothing?_"

A smile returned to Katie's face, "Well… you hear about the Alley Combatant game that's coming out?"

* * *

"Yum…" Toiletta smiled as she took a bite of her curry, "You always make great food, Mrs. Adams!"

"Oh, thank you Hanako," Lily smiled from her seat across from the yo-kai girl.

"Venoct, it's not poisoned, I assure you," Nate grunted as he tried to keep the mentioned yo-kai from grabbing his spoon.

"I must make sure, for your sake, Master!" Venoct insisted, grabbing hold of the spoon with his dragon scarf.

Lily and Aaron both paused at the display, looking to each other with a bit of concern.

"Venoct, I don't mean to be rude, but; isn't it about time for you to be getting home?" Aaron questioned, giving a bit of an uncomfortable cough.

"Home…?" the boy-like yo-kai blinked confusedly.

"Yes, Venoct, don't you think your parents may be getting worried?" Lily pointed out, trying her best to give an encouraging smile.

"Home…?" Venoct repeated, looking like he had barely heard Lily's comment. Still, he nodded, bowing to Nate, "Master, I must bid you, your family, and your subordinates goodbye! I have realized there is something I must attend to!"

Nate blinked, "Um… okay?"

Venoct nodded to the bow, giving another bow, before rising to his feet, and rushing out of the kitchen, towards the location of the front door.

Nate, along with his parents, kept staring in the direction Venoct had left in, for a few more moments.

"Finally!" Toiletta broke the silence, leaning into her chair with a relieved expression, "I thought he'd _never_ leave!"

Nate and his parents looked towards the ghost girl with a bit of surprise.

"… What? You were all thinking the same thing!" Toiletta scoffed.

* * *

Nathan Adams gave a tired sigh as he stepped into his room, clad in pajamas. The boy did a stretch as he moved over to his bed and sat down.

"Captain?" Sailornyan's ears twitched, she sat up on the bed, looking towards the boy with an affectionate smile.

"It's nothing, just… long day," Nate gave a bit of a yawn, reaching over and petting the nekomata.

"_Every_ day feels like a 'long day,' lately," Whisper commented, floating into the room with a sigh.

"Not gonna argue with you there, I feel like I might be going insane half the time," Nate put a hand to his face and groaned.

"Nya…" Sailornyan moved onto the boy's lap, giving a sympathetic smile as she rubbed her head against his chest.

Nate smiled in response to the nekomata, gently stroking her head.

"You shouldn't let a day like this be enough to ruffle your resolve, Honey," Damona suddenly spoke up, floating into the room, arms crossed, "The life of a royal will provide many a challenge to this degree, and you best be prepared for it, if you ever hope to be my husband!"

Sailornyan growled lowly, glaring at the oni princess.

"I do _not_ hope to be your husband, but okay…" Nate muttered under his breath, averting his eyes from his fiancée.

"I heard that!" Damona snapped, flying up to look Nate in the eyes, "And, as we've already gone over; it's not negotiable!"

"Yes, yes, you've made that _abundantly_ clear," Whisper scoffed, waving a hand dismissively as he floated around the room.

Damona sent the butler a scathing glare but said nothing to him.

"Eh-hehe, did I say something…?" Whisper nervously backed up, trying to avoid meeting Damona's glare.

Damona kept watch of the butler as he backed out of the room.

"W-Well, good night Nate, I hope to see you well rested in the morning!" the yo-kai butler did a quick bow, before speeding down the hall.

"Good riddance," Damona scoffed, her glare still set on the doorway.

"Damona…" Nate muttered in a disapproving tone.

The dark princess gave a sinister giggle, twirling in the air before sending her fiancé a wink, "Night, night, Dear!" with another twirl, the Charming yo-kai flew over to the closet and through the closed door.

A slight tinge of pink formed on Nate's face, before he quickly shook his head, and pet Sailornyan a few more times.

"Nya, good night, Captain," Sailornyan purred, moving out of the boy's lap, and curling up at the foot of the bed.

Nate smiled at the cat, getting back to his feat to turn off the lights, and close his bedroom door, before moving back to the bed and getting under the covers.

Letting out a content sigh, the young boy began to drift off to sleep, under the watchful eye of Venoct…

Nate's eyes opened wide, before he sat up in bed and looked to his bedside, "Wait a minute, Venoct!?"

"Yes, Master!" Venoct spoke with reverence and bowed his head. "I am sorry I left you so suddenly, earlier, but I am pleased to announce that I have finalized my move into your yo-kai apartment complex!"

Nate stared blankly at the yo-kai, "… What?"

"I know you approved my application days ago, but I had not yet bothered to make use of the living space," Venoct continued, a bit of shame entering his voice, before his eyes lit up as his tone changed to a more energetic one, "But, I now understand the true value of that living space! I will take full advantage of this tactical position to keep watch over you as often as I can, and ensure no assassination attempts during the night may go through!"

"… What?" Nate repeated, his expression remaining a blank stare.

"Sleep soundly, Master, for I will not leave your side for even a second!" Venoct assured firmly.

Nate blinked, looking at the yo-kai, staring at him, trying to think of something to say, or argument to make…

Nothing came to the boy's mind, letting out a tired sigh and giving a defeated expression, the boy pulled himself back under the covers, before he rolled over, trying to get to sleep…

Nate was unable to get to sleep until much later into night.

* * *

"_Nate, oh Nate!" a little cat-like girl called out, skipping around Triangle Park, a curious look on her face, "Where'd you go now!?"_

"_BOO!" a shadow suddenly leapt out from the bushes._

"_EEK!" the girl jumped in shock, before she got a good look at the giggling human boy. Her cheeks puffed up as she glared with her hidden eyes, "NATE!"_

"_Gotcha, Kirene!" Nate smiled._

_The yo-kai girl growled, her face going red as she kept glaring at the boy._

_Nate laughed a bit more, before he noticed how the girl was still glaring at him, "Um… Kirene…? You okay? I was just kidding…"_

_Kirene's growling increased, before she rushed forward and grabbed Nate by the shoulder, "MEANIE!"_

"_Wah!?" Nate gasped in shock as he was pushed to the ground, "Owie…"_

"_Hmph," Kirene crossed her arms, turning away from the fallen boy, "Serves you right!" she started to walk away, when she heard sniffling that had her pause, and turn back._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't th-think…" Nate looked at the ground as tears formed in his eyes. "I just… I just wanted to play with you, Kirene, I didn't mean…"_

_Kirene's frown twitched slightly, before she gave a sigh, and started moving back over to the boy._

_Tears continued to fall from Nate's eyes, before he noticed a hand being held out to him, "Huh…?" the little boy looked up to see Kirene._

"_Come on, don't be a baby, Nate…" grasping his hand._

"_I-I'm not a baby," Nate lightly protested, using his elbow to wipe the tears from his eyes, standing upright again. "I'm five now, I'm a big boy!"_

"_Yeah, yeah," Kirene chuckled, patting the boy on the shoulder, "Well, let's hope your attitude reflects that better in the future; you're going to be carrying the Bundory name once we get married, and no Bundory should act like a crybaby!"_

_Nate pouted, "I just said I'm not a baby…" shaking his head, the boy gave a smile, "Once we get married, we'll be together forever, right?"_

_Kirene's face went a bit red again, a dreamy smile appearing, "Y-Yeah, that's what being married is… well, that's what mommy and daddy say."_

"_Yeah!" Nate smiled widely, hugging Kirene, "You're my best friend in the world, Kirene! I want to be together with you forever!"_

_The blush on the cat-girl's face intensified, before she hugged him back, "Y-Yeah, you… you're my best friend too, Nate…"_

"_Nothing will ever separate us, right?" Nate questioned innocently, pulling away from the yo-kai girl and looking at her with big, shining eyes._

"_Yeah, nothing and nobody will ever, ever separate us, Nate," Kirene assured, holding the human boy's hands with her own. "We'll be together, always and forever…"_

A melancholy sigh escaped Kirene Bundory's lips as the words and memory faded. Staring up at the night sky above Springdale, the young lady couldn't help but reminisce of those long-gone moments in time… '_That was what I said at the time… I wonder, do you think about that too…? Are you mad at me for breaking our promise? Do you… even remember me…?_'

"Hey, sis!"

The voice of one of her brothers brought Kirene out of her thoughts, looking down from her perch atop the storage building, she spotted a male cat-like humanoid approaching, dressed in a long black coat that reached the ground, carrying a staff in hand. His face covered by a mask, and ears were poking out from his top hat.

"Spatto, what is it?" Kirene frowned, not appreciating her reminiscing being interrupted.

The male cat-humanoid smirked, twirling his staff a bit, "Come on, sister; you know the break in of gourd pond museum will commence tonight, Father wants us all to be at our best…"

Kirene blinked her hidden eyes, before letting out a small grunt, "Right, slipped my mind for a second there," she shook her head before jumping down from the building, landing on her feet beside her sibling, "Sorry about that, being back in this town just makes me a bit… nostalgic."

Spatto frowned for a second, but his smirk quickly returned, "Oh; thinking about that human boy, again?"

A slight blush appeared on Kirene's face, "It's really been a long time… Maybe after we do everything we need to do here; I could try and go see him…"

Spatto gave a skeptical look, "Not so sure about that, you know we need to keep moving. And Tempest Pride patrolling around lately isn't helping, we should probably get out of this town as quickly as possible!"

Kirene's expression fell as she released a long sigh, "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

A brief look of sympathy crossed the male yo-kai's face, before he turned, "Come on, Father's probably getting impatient."

Kirene nodded, following her brother as they moved through the darkened Springdale, '_Maybe I can at least snag some jewels for myself while were in the museum, if there's time._'

* * *

And, chapter done!

I came up with the name for Rubeus J's wolf servant; Fenwrecker, the name Madusword was amf studios' idea.

Yeah, I decided to make Rubeus J's Boss and Friend forms into Shadowside and Lightside. I figure it makes sense for there to be Shadow/Lightside yo-kai in the modern time, even if they aren't as numerous as 30 years later.

And, I'm happy to report that this story now has a TV Tropes page, I decided to go and make one myself! I encourage any fans of this work to go add to and/or improve it, if you so desire.

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' "Hey, Nate again! So, seems our school is hosting some kind of big beach party…? Maybe I can use this opportunity to try and talk to Katie again, but… how am I supposed to get to her with all these other girls trying to talk to me!? And now Little Charrmer wants me for something!? What does she mean that there are villains that we need to deal with!?"

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **I'm not cut out for Hero Work!**


	12. I'm not cut out for Hero Work!

**Chapter 12: I'm not cut out for Hero Work!**

* * *

"Do we have everything?" Lily questioned, the mother was dressed in a yellow sundress, with a sunhat on her head.

Aaron was dressed similarly casually, with a light blue t shirt, and a pair of white shorts, as well as a hat of his own over his head, and a pair of sunglasses pulled up to his forehead. The father was looking through a basket, "Let's see here, sunscreen, lunch, picnic blanket… looks like everything's here!"

Nate's grade at Springdale Elementary was having a big beach party for all their students, and their families. The exact reasons for which were unclear, but many were happy to take this opportunity to have fun, socialize, and eat good food.

_Many_, didn't mean _all_, of course…

"Do we _really_ have to go to this thing…?" Nate asked once more, giving his parents a pleading look. "Can't we just make up some excuse for why we can't make it?" the boy was _not_ looking forward to what a potential trip to the beach, with all the kids in his grade, would surely bring…

"Nathan, that would be incredibly rude!" Whisper scolded, floating up behind the boy.

"No, Nate, that would be incredibly rude," Lily unknowingly echoed the yo-kai butler's sentiment, before giving her son a sympathetic look, "I know things have been difficult for you, lately, but a day out will be good for you, trust me."

Nate seemed reluctant, but he nodded, "If you say so, mom…"

"I am ready to depart for the beach at any time," Venoct announced proudly, standing by Nate in a battle-ready stance, "No threats will get near Master Nathan, as long as I stand!"

"That's great," Lily nodded absentmindedly, checking over the list one last time, before she paused, "Wait, why are you here…?" she asked slowly, staring at the humanoid yo-kai.

"I am sworn to protect Master Nathan for the entirety of my existence, this is my sacred vow!" Venoct's response was without any change in tone, the humanoid yo-kai standing straight, his eyes shining with pure conviction.

Nate released a tired groan, shaking his head.

The mother gave the Slippery yo-kai a strange look, slowly nodding her head, "Ooookay…" she glanced to her husband, who just shrugged. "I… suppose you can come with us."

Nate stood back as his parents were momentarily distracted by the inexplicable yo-kai ninja, '_I just know this is not going to end well…_' he couldn't help but dread, remembering the very reason he had declined his yo-kai butler's offer to go to the beach the other day. '_All those cute girls in swimsuits… NO! I need to stay strong,_' the boy shut his eyes tight and shook his head, denying the creation of another fantasy.

"I can't wait to go to the beach!" Sailornyan cheered as she danced around the boy's feet, "I love being in Captain Nyate's home, but I am a sailor at heart!"

The cheerful voice of the pink cat had Nate's nerves eased a bit, looking down and smiling at her, "I'm glad you'll enjoy this, at the least."

"Nya?" Sailornyan blinked, looking up at her beloved captain curiously, "Is something wrong?"

Nate quickly shook his head, not wanting to worry the adorable nekomata, "N-No, it's fine. I'm looking forward to this too!" he assured, petting the feline's head.

Sailornyan seemed a bit unsure, but happily purred when the boy's hand stroked her fur.

As he continued petting the cat, Nate's smile fell a bit as his insecurities started rising again, but he did his best to force them down, '_At the least, I'll probably have chance to talk to Katie… if she even wants to talk to me, that is…_'

* * *

Over at the Forester home, a certain young girl was in preparation for the beach party, but the problems still plaguing her mind were limiting her expectations for enjoyment.

"Should I take the opportunity to talk to Nate? What do I even say to him…?" Katie nervously paced the floor of her room, uncertainty practically emitting from her. "Should I just be straightforward, tell him everything I know? Tell him I don't understand fully why he didn't tell me, but I also don't hold it against him, and that I've just been confused and that's why I haven't returned his text?"

"Noko…?" Tsuchi blinked, staring at the girl as she kept walking back and forth.

"I mean, maybe I should be a_ bit _more confrontational than that, I don't want Nate to think he can just hide things like this from me!" a bit of a frustrated look crossed the girl's face, which was soon replaced with worried one, "But, I don't want to make him think he can't keep_ anything_ from me, everyone has secrets, but…" Katie growled, clutching her head, "This is all just so confusing!? What am I supposed to say to him!? We haven't even talked in days! What if he thinks I hate him!? What if he hates _me_ now!?"

"Noko, No-no ko!" Tsuchi interjected, hopping down from the bed and over to the girl, lightly bopping his head against her leg.

Katie blinked, staring down at her snake companion for several seconds, before all the frustration and confusions he felt seemed to just evaporate, none of it any match for the serene and innocent smile of the little yo-kai, "You're right, Tsuchi! I shouldn't be agonizing over all of this, I'm never gonna get anywhere if I don't at least _attempt_ to talk to Nate! I'll worry about _how_ I'll do that, _when_ I get to that!" the ponytailed girl let out a chuckle that sounded, just slightly, _off_, while she patted the snake yo-kai's head, "Gee, thanks for your help, Tsuchi! I needed that!"

Tsuchi stared at the human girl blankly, "… Noko, Noko-Noko…?" the reptile tilted his head with confusion, internally questioning where this girl had pulled that 'advice' out from him saying; 'hungry, feed me!'

* * *

Meanwhile, in another home somewhere in Springdale, a different girl was at a dilemma of her own.

"Beach party with Natey-kins! Beach party with Natey-kins!" Megan Jones happily chanted to herself as she danced around her room, letting out a dreamy sigh as she came to a stop, clasping her hands together as her eyes sparkled, "I know this will be the day, the day Natey-kins_ finally_ asks _me_ to become his girlfriend!"

The young popstar-to-be giggled a bit to herself as the perfect scenario started to play out in her mind.

* * *

_The setting sun created an orange tint over the ocean view, combining with the soft sound of waves crashing onto the beach, creating a soothing ambience._

_Megan Jones and Nathan Adams stood facing one another, their silhouettes framed by the setting sun._

"_Meg, I love you!" Nate declared with complete certainty, putting both hands onto the girl's shoulders. "I've loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you, but I was nervous to tell you! Now though, I can no longer hold it in!"_

_Meg's smile widened, her cheeks glowing bright red, and her eyes sparkling, "Oh, Natey-kins, I knew it! I knew you loved me too!" she snuggled her head into the boy's chest, giving a dreamy sigh while he hugged her tightly._

_The sounds of crying had the happy couple pausing in their moment, the two separating and looking over at the crowd of girls where the noises were coming from._

_However, the cries were not being wept in agony over having Nate's love be decided, no; the other girls seemed to be crying tears of joy…_

"_They look so good together!" Lina and Zoey voiced in unison, holding each other tightly._

"_I could never make Nate that happy!" Alex admitted, wiping a tear from her eye._

"_Oh, Meg, we feel so foolish for trying to stand in the way of true love!" Maya cried out, tears flowing from her and the other girls' eyes, "Can you ever forgive us!?"_

_Meg smiled at all her friends, stepping towards them, and grasping Maya's hand with her own, "Of course, I forgive you, we're friends, no matter what!"_

_Cheers erupted from the various females over being forgiven, as well as congratulations over Nate and Meg becoming a couple._

"_Meg, that was so kind of you," Nate smiled, hugging the girl once more._

"_Holding grudges will do us no good, Natey-kins, I'm happy our friends could see the error of their ways!" the pigtailed girl smiled widely, hugging her boyfriend back._

_Nate chuckled, "You're right, and that type of insight is one of the many reasons I love you!" the boy picked the girl up, bridal style, before looking at her with shining eyes, "Now, let's get married!"_

* * *

Meg hugged herself as her giggling intensified, her face bright red, before she released a happy squeal, "Oh, I can't wait!"

Skipping over to her closet, the pigtailed girl opened it and starting vigorously searching through it, "I need to find the _perfect_ swimsuit to wear! Something to _really_ catch my true love's eye, but which one…?"

Tossing the various swimsuits that she owned onto her bed, the young girl started comparing them.

"Too plain!" a pink swimsuit was tossed aside.

"Too gaudy!" a rainbow pattern suit joined the pink one.

"Too blah!" a green, camo-pattern swimsuit was thrown.

"… How'd one of mom's swimsuits get into my closet?" Meg shook her head, holding up the butterfly pattern bikini, shaking her head, '_Maybe someday, but I'm way too young for something like this!_' deciding it would be a bad idea to just toss her mom's clothing into the pile, she placed the bikini onto her dresser, making a mental note to tell her mother once she was finished.

Eventually, after throwing aside several more potential suits, Megan was down to the final two that she was having trouble deciding between…

"This one is super cute…" Meg held up the swimsuit that emulated the design of a mermaid, interest in her eyes, before she lowered it and held up the one with the flower pattern, "But _this_ one is totally adorable!"

The pigtailed girl let out a slight whine, her eyes continuing to dart between the two swimsuits, "Cute, adorable, cute, adorable!?" she sighed heavily, flopping down onto her bed, "How am I supposed to know which one to go with!? Which would Natey-kins like better…?"

As Megan's internal struggle continued, she glanced around her room a bit, before one item in her room caught her eye, "Of course, why didn't I see it before!" the girl pulled herself up from the bed, walking over to the mirror and smiling brightly at her reflection, giving a wink and a little twirl, "It doesn't matter what swimsuit I wear! I'm just _that_ cute!" giggling to herself, Meg put her hands to her cheeks while her smile widened, "Natey-kins will no doubt be thrilled to see me in _any_ swimsuit, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Giggling in an excited manner, the young girl skipped around her room, before pausing, glancing back to the swimsuits on her bed, "Though… that still doesn't help me decide on _which_ one to go with…"

Unknown to the pigtailed girl, an unseen being was watching her, interest gleaming in its big, round eyes…

* * *

Of course, elsewhere, _yet another_ young girl was in preparation for her own trip to the beach (completely unrelated to the beach party for the Springdale Elementary students…)

"Oh, this is going to be so fun, a day at the beach is just what I need!" Amy exclaimed excitedly, looking through her closet for the perfect outfit. "I bet the ocean will provide some great inspiration for clothing designs, and I've been craving some fun in the sun!"

"Right," a red-furred nekomata gave a skeptical look as he rolled around on the girl's bed, before sitting up and crossing his arms, "And it has _nyothing_ to do with Nyate being there…"

The young fashionista's face briefly flashed red, a dreamy look in her eyes, before she quickly shook herself back to normal and gave an awkward chuckle, "_Whaaat_, that beach party was _today_!? I had _compleeetely_ forgotten!"

In response to the girl's innocent smile, Jibanyan gave an unimpressed grumble, "Aren't you supposed to have school today, anyway? How'd you get out of that?"

Amy nonchalantly waved off the question, "Nah, we've got a break from school today."

"… Why?" Jibanyan questioned blankly.

The pigtailed girl shrugged, "I dunno."

Jibanyan looked unimpressed with the non-answer.

Amy sighed out of annoyance, "Don't give me _that_ look. I really don't know why school is off today, but I'm going to take advantage of it all the same!"

"… _Nyaaaa_," the nekomata still looked skeptical, rolling over on the bed.

Amy huffed, choosing to ignore her cat's mood for the moment, returning to looking through the clothing in her closet, "Anyway, I'm not the only one from my school going to the beach, some of my friends are going to meet me there!"

"And subsequently become indoctrinyated into Nyate's harem," Jibanyan pointed out, a sarcastic tone to his voice.

The human female froze, her eyes widening as the probability of her pet's statement was processed in her mind, "W-What… no, that won't happen!" she tried to wave away the concerns, chuckling to herself. '_Maybe I should hold off on having my friends meet Nate… at least until we're officially dating._'

"If you're having trouble picking an outfit," a blue, pterodactyl-like creature spoke up, peeking out from the closet, "I suggest that blue tank top you picked up last week, I do not believe you've worn it yet!"

Amy blinked in surprise, before pulling said clothing item out from the closet by its hanger, and smiling, "Huh, you're right, I haven't worn it yet… thanks, Letsbifrenz!"

"No problem, my friend," the Classic yo-kai smiled, giving a bow.

**Shady Tribe: Letsbifrenz**

Jibanyan discreetly glared at the winged yo-kai, a low growl emitting from him.

"Now, what would go best with this, pants, or a skirt…?" Amy hummed to herself, placing the tanktop on her bed, before returning to searching through her clothing. "Oh, by the way; Letsbifrenz, do you want to go to the beach with us?"

Letsbifrenz' eyes widened slightly, "W-What, I could go…?"

Jibanyan hissed.

Amy briefly glared at the cat yo-kai, before smiling at the winged one, "Of course you could go, you wanted to meet Nate, right? This is as good a chance as any for you to do that!"

"I could become _friends_ with the Yo-kai Master…?" Letsbifrenz almost drooled at that prospect.

"Red flag, _so_ many red flags…" Jibanyan muttered in a warning tone.

"Rudy, _stop_," Amy growled under her breath, sending her cat a scolding glance.

Jibanyan groaned again, curling up on the bed and giving a tired sigh, "Fine, but I'm going with to make sure nyothing_ funny_ happens!"

Amy released a scoff, rolling her eyes, "Whatever you say, Rudy. Just promise me you won't do anything to ruin my time with Nate!"

Some growls came from the twin-tailed feline, before he reluctantly nodded his head, "_Fine_!"

The human girl smiled, stroking the fur behind the cat's ears, "Alright, good boy!"

Jibanyan tried to resist but ended up purring in response to the contact.

Letsbifrenz had a little smile on his face as he watched the two, '_They're such good friends._'

* * *

In an undisclosed location, somewhere in Springdale, the yo-kai superhero team known as Tempest Pride were having a meeting, discussing a matter of absolute importance…

"I don't know guys, what do you think would make the best costume for Nate's sidekick persona…?" Little Charrmer questioned her team, while she was seated at a table, a pencil hovering over a paper where she had already doodled several costume ideas.

A collection of tired, and/or annoyed groans sounded from the other heroes in the room.

"Boss-lady, could ya please _focus_!?" Unbearaboy! snapped, making a fist as he glared at the leader, "We're not here ta talk about yer '_boyfriend!_'"

That comment had the fiery leader's face turning as red as her costume, "W-What!? He's not my b-boyfriend!" she stuttered slightly, turning to glare at the youngest member of the team. "He's my new sidekick!"

"Whatever you want to call him, I don't really think it's a good idea to drag that poor kid into any of this," The Jawsome Kid spoke in an unsure tone.

"Yeah, we should be focusing on the recent break-in of the museum, not kidnapping and playing dress-up with some human kid," Dr. E. Raser scoffed, crossing his arms.

A tick-mark formed on Little Charrmer's head as she glared at her teammates, "For the last time; I'm _not_ going to _kidnap_ him! And this isn't 'playing dress-up,' the costume is an important part of a superhero's image!" the red-clad yo-kai hero picked up the paper she had been doodling on, waving it around for emphasis. "And, Nate's not just 'some poor kid,' he's the _Yo-kai Master_! He's dealt with serious threats before; he has what it takes to be a member of Tempest Pride!"

"Thekidbefriendsalotofyo-kai,butthat'sabitdifferentfromdealingwithvillains,don'tyouthink!?" Double Time spoke in his almost incomprehensible manner, doing a few dashes around the room in the blink of an eye.

"Shut up, Double Time," Little Charrmer regarded the speedster with an annoyed tone.

The Jawsome Kid let out a gasp at that comment, before moving over to Unbearaboy!, and attempting to cover the smaller yo-kai's ears.

"Hey, get off me, shark-man!" the baby-like yo-kai shouted in protest, waving his fists around erratically.

"Look, can we just focus on how we're going to approach this patrol, and what we should prepare for with the potential criminals!?" Dr. E. Raser gave an annoyed grunt, pointedly glaring at the leader.

Little Charrmer scoffed, "_Fine_, I'll put away the costume designs for now! Let's talk strategy and all that stuff, mostly how we're going to kick butt!" '_I'll find a way to get my little sidekick in on the action anyway,_' the red-clad heroine wisely kept that last though to herself…

* * *

Nate suddenly felt a shiver of unease dancing up his spine, that had the boy glancing around warily, "I just got a really bad feeling… maybe I should try to find a way to get out of this beach party after all…" he muttered, a slight look of panic clear in his eyes.

Turning to look where his parents were discussing some details about where the class was going to meet up for the party, the young boy started trying to come up with an excuse to get out of going, as he started stepping towards them.

"Darling, what's with that look on your face?" Damona made her presence known, seemingly popping into existence from behind her fiancé, giving him a small smirk.

Nate froze in his tracks at the yo-kai girl's questioning, before he stiffly turned to her, "Um, well… I was just, you know, gonna– "

"Gonna chicken out?" the dark-haired princess gave a knowing smirk as she circled the boy, twirling a bit of his hair with her finger.

Nate's face turned red as he averted his eyes from his fiancée, "Well…"

"I thought so," Damona didn't wait for the boy to finish, floating upside down and drifting over his shoulder, "And I'm going to tell you this now; don't!"

Nate jumped a bit in surprise, blinking when Damona floated over his head, giving him a serious look, her smirk changing to a frown, "What do you mean…?"

"Honey, this is my first time going to the beach since you released me from that infernal Crank-a-Kai, and I will _not_ be going without _my fiancé_!"

"I, uh…" Nate's eyes nervously darted around, trying to look anywhere than at his fiancée's frowning face, before he finally gave a defeated sigh, his stance drooping, "Alright, fine, I'll go to the beach party."

The frown on the yuki-onna/oni's face became a smirk once more as she twirled around in the air a few times, drifting a bit further from the boy, "Yes, you will; I'm really looking forward to this party, you know!" she admitted, her smirk turning to a more genuine smile, and a slight tinting of pink coming to her cheeks.

Nate found himself pausing at Damona's expression, a similar shade of pink coming to his own cheeks, '_Has Damona always been that cute…?_' the boy quickly looked away from the princess, slapping both his cheeks and rapidly shaking his head, '_NO! STOP THOSE THOUGHTS! She is an EVIL creature, who has trapped you in a nightmarish engagement to keep you from marrying Katie and is trying to lure you into a life of POLYGAMY! Which, maybe, wouldn't be so bad if my wives were just Katie and Isabel, and possibly even Amy–STOP! JUST KATIE! I ONLY WANT TO MARRY KATIE!_'

Damona raised an annoyed brow as she watched her fiancé twitching with his head down, and clearly trying not to look at her, "Nate, _what _are you doing…?"

Nate snapped himself out of his chaotic thoughts, before he turned back to look at Damona, letting out some _very fake_ chuckles, and forcing a sheepish expression, "Um, nothing, just… thinking…"

Damona's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she kept staring at the boy.

Nate gave a few fake coughs, averting his eyes from the girl once more, before a thought occurred to him, which had him looking back at her questioningly, "Wait, this is a _human_ party, how are you going to enjoy it, when nobody can see you…?"

The question had the yo-kai princess blinking for a moment, before she released an amused chuckle, "Oh, don't you worry about that, Honey, there will be no issues with my attendance to this affair," as she said this, Damona briefly pulled a leaf out from her kimono, before quickly hiding it once again.

Nate vaguely recognized the leaf; a 'yo-kai leaf,' he was sure, an item that allowed a yo-kai that didn't normally have the ability to take on a human disguise, '_So, that's her plan…_' Nate honestly didn't know how to feel about that…

Damona just gave another amused, and slightly mischievous laugh, floating away and towards the sliding door, blowing her fiancé a kiss before waving and winking at him, "I look forward to you officially introducing me to your parents. See you at the beach!" with a quick twirl, the yo-kai girl phased through the glass, and floated out of sight.

Nate stared dumbly in the direction his fiancée had gone, his face going slightly red again, before he quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it, '_Hold on, did she say she's looking forward to me 'introducing' her to my parents…!?_' the young boy gulped at that prospect.

"What was that about?" Toiletta suddenly voiced, sneaking up behind the boy.

"Gah!? Toile-Hanako!?" Nate turned in surprise, quickly correcting himself from referring to the girl by her yo-kai name.

"Yes, that's who I am," the ghost girl crossed her arms with a frown, glaring at the door where Damona had escaped from, "Where'd the _Princess Witch_ go?"

"I'm… not sure," Nate admitted, scratching his head nervously. "Also, could you _not_ call her that…?"

Toiletta simply scowled, "She keeps calling me a 'servant girl,' I'm not very inclined to offer her much respect."

Nate sighed, looking away from the ghost girl, but nodding his head in acceptance.

Toiletta frowned a bit at the boy's reaction, before her frown slowly shifted into a playful smile, as she moved closer to Nate, putting her hands onto his shoulders, "Hey now, let's not think about that right now, we're gonna have fun at the beach after all!" she leaned closer, and whispered in his ear, "And, I bet you're looking forward to seeing me in a swimsuit, aren't you?"

Nate froze, his face blazing red, unable to react as the ghost girl let go of him, giggling as she ran to the other end of the house.

Nate put a hand to his forehead, giving a deep breath to calm down, '_I'm not going to survive this day, am I…?_'

* * *

The drive to the beach was uneventful, for the most part; Sailornyan and Toiletta seemed intent on subtly annoying each other as much as possible, and with the pink nekomata seated in Nate's lap, and the bathroom-dwelling ghost beside him, Nate was at the center of it as well…

"Poke," Toiletta's voice was a monotone.

"Captain, she's touching me again!" Sailornyan whined she clung to the boy's shirt, pointing to the humanoid yo-kai's outstretched figure.

Nate released a long sigh, "Toiletta, I know you're more mature than this please stop," he was sure to keep his voice down so his parents would not hear.

At Nate's words, Toiletta's face turned a bit pink, before she gave a huff, "_Fine_, I'll stop," she sent one last jealous glare at the cat in the boy's lap, before turning away.

Whisper floated at the back of the car, chuckling a bit to himself, but choosing not to comment.

The rest of the car ride was relatively uneventful, and before they knew it, they were in a parking spot just looking over the beach.

Stepping out of the car, the group started to head to the beach, Nate's mother holding the picnic basket, while his father was carrying the parasol.

Nate and the yo-kai moved ahead and onto the beach, with the human boy looking around a bit warily, though he a small smile made its way onto his face.

"You know, in some ways, the ocean could be considered the largest 'toilet' in the world," Toiletta suddenly spoke up, adjusting the sunhat on her head, before smiling at the boy, "In that sense, do you suppose a beach, could be considered a giant 'bathroom?'"

Nate's smile quickly faded at the ghost girl's descriptions, "Not what I wanted to think about today, Hanako…"

The black-haired girl blinked, before a troubled look crossed her eyes, and she reached out to grasp her crush's hand, "Um… sorry, Nate? How about we just…"

"OCEAN!" Sailornyan suddenly exclaimed, jumping between the human and ghost, excitedly looking towards the water over the horizon, "Ocean! It's been too long! Sun, sand, fish!" the pink nekomata kept giggling as she scurried ahead and jumped onto the sound, rolling around in the sand happily.

Toiletta moved her hand away from Nate's grumbling to herself about the 'moment being ruined.'

Nate didn't seem to notice what Toiletta was doing, keeping his focus on the feline, a fond smile coming to his face, "You know, kind of unexpected how much the ocean excites her, considering how cats are usually known to react to water, especially ones with flame-tipped tails, but that's just one of the things that makes her special I guess."

Toiletta furrowed a brow, looking a bit bothered by Nate's fondness for Sailornyan, she looked to be considering saying something, but…

"Master!" Venoct suddenly shouted, jumping from behind the duo and landing in front of them, bowing to Nate, "We have arrived at the beach, I will survey the area, to make sure there are no ambushes or approaching enemies!"

"Venoct– "the young man tried to speak to tell his 'bodyguard' to relax, but the ninja yo-kai had already sped off. Nate let out a sigh, "I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to get through to that guy…"

Toiletta sighed, "Well, he's devoted, if nothing else, if real danger does pop up again, he'll at least be helpful in keeping you from dying."

'_Again…_' Nate couldn't help but think, a slight shiver going down his spine as particular memory went through his head, of falling, of colliding with the hard ground, bones breaking, heart stopping…

"Nate, are you… shaking…?" Toiletta voiced with concern, glancing at her crush with wide, confused eyes.

The brunette boy's eyes widened, looking down at his hands, and realizing that the female yo-kai was correct, he quickly shook his head to rid himself of any memories of his untimely, and undone, death, "It-It's nothing, I'm fine," he almost hiccupped as he looked to the ghost girl, but manage to keep a decent enough composure to smile.

Toiletta's worry didn't fade, a skeptical frown settling on her face, "Well… if you say so..." she glanced away, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, "B-But, you know, you can talk to me about anything, right…?"

"T-Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Nate gave the best friendly smile he could to the shorter girl, before he turned his focus forward again, "Come on, let's get down there and find a good spot!"

Toiletta was still blushing as she watched the boy walk a few paces ahead of her, nodding a bit, "Yeah… let's…" she managed a gentle smile, following along with her crush…

"Sand! Sun! Ocean!" Sailornyan kept cheering and rolling around on the beach, before she took notice of what looked to be a tiny blue nekomata a few meters away, wearing an Egyptian pharaoh's headdress, "Nya…?" the pink feline blinked in confusion.

* * *

"This spot looks good," Nate smiled, finding an open spot on the sand, a good distance from any other families' setups, but not so far as they couldn't see them.

"Y-Yeah, looks good to me," Toiletta nodded, still looking a little awkward, but giving a small smile.

"Aren't you going a bit out of your way to be separate from your classmates, Nate?" Whisper questioned the boy skeptically.

A nervous look briefly crossed the boy's face, but he quickly shook it off, "It's not too out of the way, Whisper, it's just good to have some space," Nate coughed a bit as he looked away from the butler, before he noticed his parents coming down the steps, and waved to them, "Mom, Dad, I found a good spot!"

When they noticed their son, Nate's parents started heading over, and did not see any issue with the spot, so they set up their blanket and parasol there.

Sitting himself on the ground, Nate gave a somewhat relieved sigh, happy that nothing crazy seemed to be happening now, and that he could take a moment to relax…

A blue-haired girl walking across the beach took notice of the Adams family's setup, and smiled widely as she waved, "Hey, Nate, Aunt Lily, Uncle Aaron!"

Noticing the girl, Nate smiled, getting to his feet, and rushing to meet her. "Jessica!" he exclaimed, happy to see his cousin, and that the first girl he ran wasn't one of the various girls who had crushes on him.

"Hey, cuz, how's it going?" Jessica smiled as she approached the boy, "Still having a lot of 'girl problems?"

Nate's mood immediately dropped, "Could you _not_ mention that…?"

Jessica chuckled, "Sorry, but I _don't_ think you're going to be able to avoid it today…"

The boy groaned, "I know…"

"Jessica, how are you doing?" Lily spoke up, stepping over to give the blue-haired girl a hug.

Jessica smiled as she hugged the woman back, "I'm doing great, Aunt Lily! I got a new cat, isn't that cool! He's so cute!"

"Wow, that is cool!" Lily chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair a bit.

Nate smiled at the interaction between his mother and cousin, as well as the change of subject from his 'girl problems.'

"Oh, Nate, is that you?"

Nate blinked, before his smile widened as he looked over at the source of the voice that sounded so much like his mother.

"It is you!" the woman who looked identical to Nate's mother, aside from her shorter hair, which went to her shoulders, chuckled as she looked over the boy. She was dressed in a light blue blouse, with a pair of white shorts. "I swear, you get bigger every time I see you!"

"Aunt Emilia!" Nate cheered, running over to his aunt.

"Nice to see you, sis," Lily smiled at the near-identical women.

"Always happy to say the same, Lily!" Emilia giggled, giving her nephew an affectionate hug as she looked to her sister.

"Oh, hey there Emilia," Aaron waved to his sister-in-law, before glancing around with a bit of confusion, "Hey, where's Zachary?"

Lily's twin gave a bit a small sigh at that, "Yeah; he's sorry he can't make it, but unfortunately he's gotten held up by the development of some new project at work, and there was no negotiating his way out of it," she shook her head, a sympathetic look crossing her eyes, "He definitely tried, that's for sure, but it unfortunately didn't pan out…"

"Wait, Uncle Zach's not here?" Nate looked disappointed at this revelation.

Jessica sympathized with her cousin, "Yeah, I know you were probably looking forward to seeing him; I was looking forward to all of us spending time together again, but dad just couldn't make it," she sighed a bit, before a slight smile came to her face, "But, he did say sorry, and that you should expect a surprise in the mail soon, Nate!"

"Huh… a surprise?" Nate blinked, his disappointment towards not seeing his uncle still present, but a bit of intrigue in his eyes, "What kind of surprise?"

Emilia released a small giggle, alleviating some of her own disappointment towards her husband not being present, "We don't know, you'll just have to wait and see!"

Nate crossed his arms with a bit of a pout, but that quickly melted away in favor of a cheerful smile, "Well, either way; I'm happy to see you both!"

"I didn't realize Nathan's mother was a twin…?" Whisper commented as he floated overhead, looking between Lily and Emilia with fascination.

"Well, he doesn't seem to talk about his family that much with us in the first place," Toiletta muttered to herself, too quiet for the yo-kai butler to hear.

Though she didn't pick up on her words, Jessica heard the yo-kai girl's voice, and turned to look at her, before waving, "Oh, hey Hanako!"

"Yeah, hey Jessica," Toiletta regarded uncaringly; she had met her crush's cousin a few times at school, and she overall didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other on her. She at least wasn't another rival for the young Yo-kai Master's affection, so that was a point in her favor, but for the most part she simply didn't care.

"Alright then, nice seeing you too," Jessica's enthusiasm seemed to die down a bit, seeing little reaction from the 'transfer student,' as usual.

Nate subtly glared in Toiletta's direction.

"I-I mean, hey there, Jessica! It's nice to see you!" Toiletta quickly spoke up again, giving her best cheerful smile as she quickly waved at the blue-haired girl.

Jessica blinked in slight confusion, "Um, thanks…?"

Nate rolled his eyes.

"And I'm here too; Hailey Anne Thomas!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed enthusiastically, suddenly popping up and draping her arms over both Nate and Jessica's shoulders.

"Hailey!?" both Nate and Jessica voiced in confusion, and a bit of annoyance (from Nate.)

"And Usapyon," the spacesuit-wearing yo-kai commented dully as he stood nearby.

"Hailey, nice to see you," Emilia greeted the girl kindly.

"Likewise, Mrs. Stonewood!" Hailey smiled brightly as she looked to the woman, allowing the other two kids to escape from her grip, "You know; I never realized you were Nate's aunt before, but looking at you and his mom, I can't believe I didn't put it together!"

"Well, despite being twins, my sister and I are rather different," Lily chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, I'm not quite the 'hothead' you are," Emilia smirked as she glanced at her twin.

Lily's face scrunched a bit at her sister's comment, "Don't start with your 'passive-aggressive' tendencies now, Emilia," she spoke in a friendly, but threatening manner.

Emilia eye twitched just the _slightest_ bit, her pleasant smile unchanging, "_'Passive-aggressive_?' Dear sister, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, I'd_ never_ be, as you put it, 'passive-aggressive,' not at all… though you are just plain _aggressive_, if you don't mind me saying."

Lily grit her teeth as she strained to keep smiling, "Oh, I'm 'aggressive,' am I?" a red aura started to form around the woman as she glared at her sister.

"Well, I'm not sure what else I could call you, considering your… fiery disposition," the light blue aura that seemed to form around Emilia matched the cool smirk on her face.

Aaron gave a nervous gulp as he looked between his wife and sister-in-law, "Um, ladies, why don't we just take a moment to calm down…?" he immediately regretted his choice to speak up when both women turned their focus to him, "Er, I mean… carry on…?"

"Well, this is sibling rivalry taken to a rather… scary conclusion," Whisper gulped as he floated down to Nate's level.

"Yeah, that's Mom and Aunt Emilia for you," Nate muttered while shaking his head.

Despite not being able to see or hear Whisper, Jessica nodded along with Nate, sighing, "Yup; one moment they get along great, the next; _this_!"

"I'm really confused, but this feels like some kind of epic face-off," Hailey chuckled a bit nervously as she looked between Lily and Emilia.

"It may be 'epic,' but I'd rather not be here at the moment," Nate muttered as he turned to walk away.

"Yeah, let's get a bit of distance between our moms and us, for a little bit at least," Jessica agreed with her cousin once more, moving to follow him.

"I kind of want to watch more," Hailey confessed, before feeling a strange tingle go up her spine, alerting her of imminent danger, "Although, I_ guess_ I should listen to you guys…" she gave another nervous chuckle as she followed her best friend, and (secret) crush.

"You're _not _leaving me!" Toiletta growled, getting up from the blanket and quickly running after the human children.

"Well, even if they can't see me, I'd rather not stay here either," Whisper spoke quickly, flying after his master in a hurry.

"Took the words right outta' my mouth," Usapyon grunted, following the ghostly butler's example.

"Aaron, you spend pretty much every day with my sister, you know what I'm talking about, right?" Emilia smirked as she looked to her brother-in-law.

"Er… well," Aaron did not look like he wanted to answer the question, or _be_ there, for that matter…

"_Honey_, I'd be careful of your next words, if I were you," Lily hissed in a dangerous tone, giving her husband a very threatening smile.

"Eh-hehe, I assure you, I don't know what either of you are talking about," Aaron gave a nervous smile sweat pouring down his head, while the two women continued glaring at each other…

* * *

"Are your guys' moms always like that?" Hailey questioned as the kids, and yo-kai, continued moving across the sandy beach.

"Not always, but when they do, it's best to just get out of there," Nate mumbled a bit as he continued walking.

"I feel a bit bad for Uncle Aaron, usually dad's there to help him in these sorts of things," Jessica admitted, sending a slightly guilt look back towards where they had come, before shrugging and continuing to follow her cousin.

"Hmm…" Hailey blinked a few times, before a wide smirk appeared on her face, "Speaking of moms, mine's over there!" the purple-haired girl pointed a few meters to the right, where a blanket was set up, a woman sat there, along with a young boy. "The kid with her is my little brother, Joshua!"

"You never mentioned you had a little brother," Nate pointed out with a raised brow.

"Well, you and Jessica never mentioned you were cousins!" Hailey shot back with a wide smirk.

"I'm sure I mentioned it _dozens_ of times!" Jessica gave an exacerbated sigh as she shook her head.

Hailey ignored her friend's annoyance, instead turning her focus to the little boy not too far from them, "Hey, Joshua, come over here and meet my friends!" she eagerly called while waving her arm, gesturing to Nate in particular, when saying 'friends.'

The younger brother blinked as he turned his attention at his sister's call, before glancing to his mother, who gave an affirmative nod, a pleasant smile on her face.

Joshua seemed skeptical, but nodded back, getting up and walking over to where the older kids were.

"Hey, Joshua," Jessica greeted the boy kindly. Evidently, she was already familiar with him.

"Yeah, hey, Jessica," the grayish-purple-haired boy commented, before glancing at Hailey briefly, and giving a questioning look to Nate, before his expression froze into one of one of shock and fear when he took note of Toiletta…

"Hey, Joshua!" Hailey exclaimed, bringing her little brother's attention back to her.

"Huh, what, big sis?" the young boy questioned, sounding a bit annoyed, his eyes drifting back in Toiletta's direction.

The female yo-kai took notice of this, raising a brow, '_What's his deal…?_'

Joshua flinched, before he looked away from the yo-kai, putting all focus to his big sister, "Why did you call me over, again…?"

"As I said, meet my other friends! That was Hanako you were staring at, by the way!" Hailey gave a mischievous chuckle.

"Hanako…?" Joshua blinked, still looking unsure.

"Yes, nice to meet you as well…" the ghost girl gave an unpleasant grunt, crossing her arms with a slightly annoyed look.

Joshua flinched again, still trying not to look at her…

"Hmm, that seems strange," Whisper commented thoughtfully, keeping an eye on the younger boy.

"AND!" Hailey gave a loud shout, pulling all attention towards her, before she pointed to the human boy near her, "This is Nate! He's a cool guy, I bet you'd get along!"

Nate gave a strange look to the purple-haired girl at her referring to him as a 'cool guy,' but decided to ignore it, and turned his focus to the younger boy. "Uh, hey, nice to meet you," the brunette gave an awkward smile as he held out his hand to the six-year-old.

Joshua looked Nate over for a moment, before sending a sly smirk his sister's way, "So, this your _boyfriend_, you keep talking about, sis?"

"B-Boyfriend!?" Nate gave a shocked and embarrassed look, before looking to Hailey with slight disbelief.

The purple-haired girl turned away to hide her red face, giving a nervous chuckle, "P-Please ignore him, Nate. Joshua doesn't know what he's talking about! I talked about you a few times, but nothing to indicate something like _that_! I-I'm not part of your harem, or anything like that!"

Nate's face turned bright red at the mention of his 'harem,' before he gave an annoyed growl, "Don't say anything about _that_!"

Joshua gave Hailey a suspicious look, "What are you talking about, sis? I heard you when you were in your room, talking to yourself, going on about your plan– "

"Alright, that's enough out of you, little eavesdropper!" Hailey quickly sped over to her brother, grabbing him by the shoulder and covering his mouth, before he blow her cover to her crush, she quickly sent an innocent smile said crush's way, "Please ignore that, Nate, my brother may have overheard a little, um, 'you-know-what-kai' talk, and misinterpreted!"

Joshua struggled against his sister's grip, making a few muffled screams and growls in the process.

"Uhhh…" Nate looked unsure of how to respond.

"Really, Nate! It's nothing to be concerned about, nothing at all," Hailey assured with a nervous chuckle, '_Change the subject, idiot! You're making yourself more suspicious!_' "Um, hey, Joshua, did you know Nate is Jessica's cousin!? Cool, huh!?"

Joshua gave an angry, disgusted, grunt as he pulled away from his sister's grip, "I know! Jessica mentioned she had a cousin named Nate before, it's not hard to put together!"

"I _TOLD_ YOU I MENTIONED HIM BEFORE!" The blue-haired girl suddenly shouted with triumph, before everyone started staring at her, and she gave an embarrassed cough, "I, um… yeah; he's my cousin."

"Hehehe, yeah, I told you before; I was just kidding when I said I hadn't known!" Hailey insisted, fake confidence in her voice.

"Yer definitely not earning any points from any direction right now," Usapyon stated in a dull tone as he walked up to the purple-haired girl.

"Shut up!" Hailey hissed under her breath as she glared at the Shady yo-kai.

"Nate, do you think that, just maybe, Hailey… is, um…" Whisper began as he floated over his master's side, looking like he was having a hard time finding the right words, "Might not be as… 'immune' to your… 'charms,' as she has let on…?"

"What?" Nate blinked, giving his butler a strange look, "What are you…? Whisper, whatever you're implying, can it wait?" the brunette boy started subtly motioning to his cousin, who was giving a strange look.

Whisper stared at the human boy for a moment, before crossing his arms and sighing, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"You _didn't_ warn me about anything," Nate gave a quizzical look, but the yo-kai butler seemed to be done talking.

Joshua moved over to Hanako with curious and somewhat scared eyes, inching closer, ever so carefully…

"… What?" the black-haired girl questioned with an annoyed glare.

Joshua flinched, but kept looking at the girl, blinking a few times, before speaking in a careful tone "… _Toiletta_?"

The yo-kai girl's eyes widened in shock, before she quickly moved over to the boy and put a finger to his lips, "_Shhhhhh!_" she hissed, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody noticed, before glaring at the boy, "How did you know!?"

"I-I don't know, you just looked like a picture I saw once!" Joshua answered quickly, trying to keep his panic down as he stared at the girl, "Are… are you really _the_ Toiletta…?"

Toiletta let out a low groan, releasing the boy, "Ug, I overacted and blew my own cover…"

"I'm… sorry…?" the little boy looked unsure of his own words.

"Whatever," Toiletta grunted, before giving the child a serious look, "As to answer your question, I am not _the_ Toiletta, I am _a_ Toiletta, there's more than one of us out there!"

"Oh…" Joshua seemed a bit unnerved by that revelation.

"Next, you will not refer to me as 'Toiletta,' at least not where other humans can hear," the ghost girl's eyes narrowed sharply, "You shall refer to me as 'Hanako,' got it!?"

"R-Right, got it," the young boy did not want to argue with the frightening spirit.

"Joshua, Hanako, what are you guys whispering about!?" Hailey questioned loudly, looking towards the spot her brother and the yo-kai girl had walked over to.

Joshua gave a fearful yelp at his sister's call, before he glanced toward the ghost girl with apprehension.

"Don't worry about your sister, she already knows who I am, but don't say anything here; Jessica doesn't," Toiletta hissed as she slinked away from the five-year-old.

"… Wait, what!?" Joshua gave a blank look.

"Wait, what, what?" Hailey blinked as she walked over to her brother, giving an odd glance to the retreating Toiletta, "What were you talking to her about?"

"Uh…" Joshua briefly considered bringing up the idea of his sister knowing that the girl 'Hanako,' was actually the urban legend; Toiletta, but after a moment, he simply shook his head, "N-Nothing…"

Hailey stared at her brother, taking note of his nervous expression, before she glanced over at Toiletta again, and a sly smirk came to her face, "Oh, _I get it_."

"Huh?" the five-year-old seemed confused by his sister's tone, "What do you mean…? What do you 'get…?'"

"Oh, don't worry about it," the bespectacled girl chuckled mischievously, "I'd say you're a _little_ young, but crushes are normal, no matter how strange your tastes are."

"What…?" Joshua had a blank look, as if he needed a moment to process the words that were coming out of his sister's mouth, until it hit him, and his expression turned to one of horror and disgust, "_WHAAAAAT_!?"

While Hailey was teasing her brother, and Jessica began moving over to them to get her to stop, Nate had taken notice of someone else, not to far from the group…

"Katie…" Nate nervously looked over at the ponytailed girl.

Katie seemed to notice Nate after a moment, she gave a slightly apprehensive smile, and started waving.

A bit of Nate's nervousness eased at the friendly reaction, with a bit of confidence in his stride the boy was about to go over and speak to his crush, however he was held back by a sudden grip on his arm.

"And _where_ exactly do you think you're going?"

Nate recognized that voice, and immediately knew who the girl that had grabbed him was before turning, still; he was a bit surprised by what he did see when he turned…

'_F-Fubuki…?_' the brunette reeled back a bit in shock, shaking his head as he got a good look at the girl facing him; she looked near-identical to Fubuki Himekawa, the only differences being that her skin was paler, her eyes and hair were purple instead of blue, with the hair being longer, going down to her shoulders, and her clothing consisted of a dark purple, short sleeved shirt, and a pair of black shorts.

"Darling, why are you giving me that strange look?" the disguised Damona frowned as she looked her fiancé over with critical eyes.

"N-Nothing," Nate quickly shook his head again, before looking at the girl questioningly, "Damona, is that you…?"

The frown on the disguised princesses' face quickly turned to a pleased smirk, nodding her head, "Of course it's me, my dear Nathan, I did say I would meet you here, didn't I?" she held her hand over her mouth as she giggled, before she started pulling the boy along, "Now come, it is about time you introduced your parents to your fiancée, or rather, your '_girlfriend_!'"

Nate's eyes widened at that statement, the boy trying to pull away from the girl's deadly grip, but failing, "M-My, what!? Hold on, Damona! Stop!" his pleas fell on deaf ears, he looked back towards Katie with desperation, but his friend was just staring at him with a frown on her face, before she turned away…

* * *

Katie briefly glanced back at Nate being dragged away from that weird, purple-haired girl (who she could swear looked like Fubuki's twin…), letting out a sigh as she shook her head, before she suddenly felt something bump against her leg.

"Noko!" Tsuchi hissed, headbutting the girl's leg, trying to push her in the direction the boy was going.

The ponytailed girl looked down at the reptile, releasing another sigh, before placing a hand on the yo-kai's head, having it stop.

"Noko…?" Tsuchi blinked, glancing up at the girl and giving a head tilt.

"I know; I said I'd try to talk to Nate today," she admitted, kneeling down to look the yellow-scaled creature in the eyes, "But… just give me some more time, okay? I still need to think about what I'm even going to say to him, and him being dragged around by other girls is also going to make it hard…"

Tsuchi gave an unimpressed look.

"Please don't look at me like that," Katie turned away from the snake, "I'll talk to Nate later, I promise."

Tsuchi kept glaring at Katie as she started walking back towards her parents…

* * *

Back with Nate and Jessica's parents, the argument had calmed down after a short bit, though not until Aaron evacuated the area with the excuse of getting some sodas for them and the kids.

As it turned out; when the sisters were alone, with no one else to react to their frightening argument, they ran out of steam rather quickly and returned to speaking amicably with one another…

"So, I heard you got a cat recently?" Nate's mother questioned her sister with an interested look, both sitting on their respective blankets.

"Oh, yeah, it was the strangest thing," the other woman nodded, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "One day Jessica just brought home a little blue kitten, it was oddly well groomed for a stray, but from what we could tell, he didn't have an owner, and since Jessica had already grown so attached to the little guy, we decided to keep him."

"Aw, that's cute," Lily smiled, before she gave a thoughtful look of her own, "Aaron and I have actually been thinking about maybe getting Nate a pet of his own lately…"

"You have?" Emilia gave a pleasant smile at that idea, "Has he been asking for one?"

"Actually; no…" Lily's expression changed to one of concern as she spoke, "Nathan hasn't asked for much of anything lately, he spends a lot of time in his room, talking to himself, come to think of it…"

"Hm?" Emilia raised a brow on this comment about her nephew, "You think he might be lonely?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think that may be it," Lily sighed, putting a hand to her cheek, "I think Hanako moving in may have helped a bit, he does like to play with her and they get along well, but he probably doesn't feel entirely at ease around her, since she has a crush on him…"

"Hm, a crush you say?" Emilia giggled a bit, "Little Nate's growing up, isn't he; and from what I've heard from my daughter, he's been getting quite a lot of attention at school lately!"

"Well, I know I should be happy about girls being interested in my little guy, but this has all been just so… extreme," Lily had a troubled look on her face as she thought about her son's 'harem.'

"That old 'Adams family charm' acting up?" Emilia gave a sly smirk. "I should have figured that would happen eventually with little Nate, I remember rather clearly how we used to fight over Aaron, before I met my darling Zachary," she chuckled a bit to herself, before humming thoughtfully, "Come to think of it, there were two other girls after Aaron, weren't there? You fought with them a lot… Diana and Franchesca…?"

Lily did not seem fond of the memories her sister was bringing up, "Can we _please_ change the subject?"

"Yes, let us change the subject, future-mother-in-law!" the sudden intrusion of the purple-haired girl, holding Nate in what could probably be described as a _vise-grip_, caught the two women off guard.

"Um, I'm sorry… who are you?" Lily questioned slowly, giving a wary look to how the girl was holding her child, "And… _what_ did you just call me…?"

"Damona, _please_," Nate whispered in a desperate tone, "At least reel it back a bit."

The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes with a slight scoff at the boy's pleading, but gave a nod before smiling at the mother once more, "A bit too forward? Sorry, I seem to have gotten ahead of myself again; my name is Damona, and I am Nate's girlfriend!"

Nate froze with wide eyes of horror towards Damona's idea of, as he had requested; 'reeling it back…'

Lily had a similar reaction to her son, though her eyes were wide with confusion, rather than horror, "W-What, Nate's 'girlfriend…?'"

Nate's face burned red, waving his hands quickly, attempting to dismiss the idea, "N-No, we– "

"Haven't been dating for very long, of course!" Damona interjected, giving her fiancé a winning smirk, which only grew at his desperate expression. "But I can assure you, we are very much in love, and plan to be wed as soon as possible!"

"W-What!?" Nate gawked, staring at his fiancée in disbelief.

Lily's confusion seemed to fade as a skeptical look came to her eyes, "Uhm, 'wed,' huh…?" her mouth became a gentle smile, the mother thinking she'd 'figured out' what was going on here. '_I swear, these girls are getting more and more eager, my special little guy really is growing up…_' she couldn't help but release a bit of a sad sigh at that thought, but still kept her smile, "Well, that's cute, have you put any thought into the wedding?"

"Unfortunately, formal planning will have to wait a few years, due to the possibilities of unforeseen circumstances between then and now, but I have had a few personal thoughts," Damona answered in a completely serious tone.

The tone of the 'little' girl's voice put off Lily, just a _tad_, "O-Oh… I see…" the mother glanced towards her son, who was still sputtering in some attempt of denial, his face bright red. Lily sighed again, her smile turning just the _slightest_ bit amused.

"So, you're dating my nephew?" Emilia interjected, looking the girl over in a critical manner, "You sure you're good enough for him? He's a better catch than you would think, you know!"

"Aunt Emilia!" Nate cried out in despair and embarrassment, wishing he could just summon Mirapo and warp out of there at that very moment (which he _technically could_, but it would not be a great idea…)

"I assure you, I am _more_ than good enough for your nephew, ma'am," Damona gave a confident smirk, "I come from a rather… _wealthy_ family, plus, unlike _some others_, I actually see the value of a romantic partner like Nathan, and greatly look forward to the day we will be wed!"

"Hmm… I like you!" Emilia smiled widely, before looking to her mortified nephew, "She's a keeper, Nate! Hold onto that one!"

"Please, stop," Nate whimpered.

"Don't worry about Nathan 'holding onto me,' our union is written in stone, and there's nothing that can stop it from coming to pass!" Damona giggled sinisterly, clutching Nate's arm in a possessive manner.

"Stop," Nate repeated, attempting, and failing, to pull away from his fiancée.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking; where are your parents, Damona?" Lily questioned carefully.

"My father and sister are around here, somewhere," Damona answered simply, before she glanced around, "I'm not entirely sure where…"

"Nate! Where did you go!?" Jessica suddenly shouted as she came charging over, "You just vanished!"

"Seems your cousin is here," Damona commented dully, before nodding to the boy, "Well, you best go see her, I'll go and find my family, I'll find you again once I've found where they are!"

"Hey, hold on!" Nate tried to protest, but Damona had already stopped listening.

"There you are!" Jessica exclaimed as she walked over to her cousin's side, giving a weird glance to the leaving form of Damona, "Where'd you run off to, and who's that girl…?"

"She _dragged_ me away," Nate responded bluntly, before his expression turned nervous, "As for who she was, uh…"

"Jessica," Emilia smiled at her daughter, chuckling a bit at her nephew's nervous expression, "Did you know Nate had a girlfriend? She certainly came out of nowhere!"

"Girlfriend…?" Jessica blinked, before giving her cousin a strange look.

"Uhhhh," Nate whimpered, turning red as his cousin glared at him, '_Whhhhhy!?_'

* * *

Sailornyan sniffed the ground as she followed the footprints that she recognized well as those of another feline; most likely a nekomata, smaller than hers or Jibanyan's though…

'_Most of us felines prefer to avoid the water, it's a bit weird there'd be anyother one here…_' Sailornyan thought to herself, knowing she was a bit of an exception to the preferences of her own kind, '_Unless, there was a specific reason it was here… like if it was another yo-kai after Captain Nyate…_' the pink nekomata's fur prickled at that thought.

As she kept moving through the beach, she came across a rock, and she spotted a pair of flaming tails sprouting out from just behind it…

Narrowing her eyes and getting into a pouncing position, Sailornyan resisted the urge to hiss, '_I won't let anyone hurt the captain!_' without a moment to spare, the pink feline ran around the rock and jumped forward, pining the other nekomata to the sand.

"Nya!?" the red feline cried out in shock at the sudden assault.

Sailornyan blinked, staring at the cat she had pinned with surprise, "Jibanyan…?"

Jibanyan shook his head as his shock faded, before he growled and pushed the other nekomata, "Get off me!"

"Nya!" Sailornyan grunted as she fell onto the sand, before she glared at the red cat, who was dusting himself off with an annoyed look.

"What the heck is wrong with you, jumping on me outta nyowhere like that!?" Jibanyan hissed, "I knyow we don't exactly get along, but come on! I didn't even do anything yet!"

The pink cat groaned, shaking her head as she got back to her feet, "Nyo, nyo, sorry–well, nyot really _that_ sorry–but still, I didn't knyow it was you!"

Jibanyan gave a dull look, crossing his arms, "Well I feel a whole _lot better_ knyowing you would attack just anyone."

"NYO!" the pink nekomata snapped, waving her arms around angrily, "You don't get it! I saw anyother cat yo-kai, and I thought it was weird, since most of our kind hate water–nyo idea why though, what's wrong with you guys?–and I was worried that it might be a yo-kai that was here to hurt the captain, so–wait a minyute!" Sailornyan paused, her eyes widening in realization, "Why are _you_ here, Jibanyan!?"

The red cat seemed momentarily shaken by that question, but he quickly regained his composure and gave a shrug, "What? A cat can't hang out at the beach? Us cat's may nyot like water–what's _wrong_ with you, by the way?–but, the sand and rocks of a sunny beach really make for some good sunbathing spots, you knyow!"

Sailornyna didn't look convinced by this explanation.

Jibanyan glared back at the pink feline for a moment, before groaning, "Fine! I'm here because Amy happens to have school off today–don't ask me why, nyot even she seems to knyow–and she heard about this beach party Nyate's grade is holding, so of course she had to head down here too!"

"Amy…?" Sailornyan stopped in her glaring at the mention of the girl; she had some conflicting feelings towards the girl:

On one paw, she was another rival for her captain's affection, and probably one of the ones that probably had a good chance of snagging him, considering some of his reactions to her!

But, on the other paw; the girl was really nice, and she complimented her on her outfit! Amy had also mentioned possibly making more clothes for her, and while she loved her sailor uniform; she would appreciate a change of look every now and then! Also, Amy helped keep Jibanyan in line whenever he would try to attack–

Again, Sailornyan paused in her thought, glaring at her male counterpart once more, "Hold on; if you came here with Amy, why aren't you _with _Amy!?"

Jibanyan was shaken once more, but tried his best not to show it (he failed), giving a few fake coughs as he tried not to look the female in the eyes, "Well… you knyow, I just wanted to find a good spot to take a bit of a nyap…"

"Wait a minyute, you were going after the captain, weren't you!?" Sailornyan shouted in an accusatory tone as she pointed at the other cat.

Jibanyan started to sweat a bit, averting his eyes, "Quit with that tone, I wasn't gonnya do anything to him! I was just gonnya tell him where Amy was, and that he should avoid that area," at the skeptical glare the female nekomata was giving him, Jibanyan huffed, "Look, this is better for both him and me! He doesn't want to deal with more harem stuff than he has to, and I get enyough of Amy fantasizing about Nyate when she isn't with him!"

"Nyearly every time you interact, you end up trying to attack him!" Sailornyan grunted in annoyance, before a smug grin settled on her face, "Nyo wonder he hardly summons you anymore!"

Jibanyan's eye twitched a bit at that comment, before he shook his head and glared at the other feline, "Hey, didn't you say you were following the tracks of_ another_ feline yo-kai, one that might be a_ threat_ to Nyate!?"

Sailornyan gave a blank look for a moment, before she gasped and jumped a bit, "Oh, right! There's a yo-kai here, and it might be after Captain Nyate! We nyeed to find it!"

"Right, you do that then," Jibanyan rolled his eyes, continuing to move in the direction where Nate was, before he suddenly found himself being dragged by the tails by the pink feline, "Nya!?"

"I said, _we_ nyeed to find it!" Sailornyan hissed as she pulled Jibanyan along by the tails, his struggles not fazing her at all. "Nyow come on!"

"Ah, alright, alright!" Jibanyan managed to pull his tails free, the pink nekomata stopping to glare at him for a moment as he stood back up, before they both continued to follow the tracks, "How are you so strong anyway, aren't you a healer!?"

"And proud of it, if the captain ever gets injured, I'll be right there to heal him!" Sailornyan exclaimed with vigor, before smirking smugly at the other cat, "But, I'm an _A _Rank, and you're a _D_ Rank, you do the math!"

Jibanyan growled under his breath at that explanation, "Stupid, unfair, rankings…"

Sailornyan ignored her counterpart's grumbling, sniffing the ground a bit, "I think they've gotta be close, but where– "

The pink nekomata's thoughts were caught off guard by a loud squeal, followed by what sounded like a baby crying. Wide-eyed and on guard, both Jibanyan and Sailornyan picked up the pace and started moving towards the source of the noise…

* * *

Sitting on a log a bit away from where their families were set up, Nate and Jessica sat in awkward silence, until the girl spoke up the question that she had dragged the boy over here to ask…

"So, when were you planning on telling me about your 'girlfriend?'" Jessica spoke in a skeptical tone as she stared at her cousin, arms crossed and a critical look in her eyes.

Nate sighed heavily, leaning back, "Look… Jessica, can… can you keep a secret?"

The girl blinked with confusion, "You _know_ I can, Nate."

"Okay, okay," the brunette boy nodded, releasing another heavy sigh, "We aren't _actually_ 'dating,' we're…" Nate looked unsure if he should say the next word, but with big sigh and a shake of his head, he decided he needed to tell someone, "We're _engaged_… to be _married_."

Jessica stared at her cousin with wide-eyes as she processed what he just said, "En-Engaged, as in, like, an old fashion arranged marriage…!?"

"Yeah, _something_ like that…" Nate muttered, lowering his head with a heavy sigh.

The blue-haired girl kept staring, scratching the back of her head a bit, "Uh, w-wow, I… didn't even know that kind of thing still happened, around here at least."

"Her family's kind of… old fashion, and strict…" Nate tried to explain, giving a troubled sigh, "I didn't even realize I had accepted her… '_proposal_,' until it was too late…"

Jessica gave her cousin a sympathetic look, "Can't you just say you didn't want to get engaged? Like can't you get out of it…?"

"I've asked, but Damona's adamant that the engagement is airtight," the brown-haired boy muttered, glancing to his cousin with a frown, "Though, she doesn't seem like she'd want me breaking off the engagement if I could, due to circumstances, and some other sources, I'm inclined to believe her…"

"That sucks, dude, I know how set you were on getting together with Katie," Jessica spoke with sympathy, though she subtly gave an aside glance of displeasure, '_Though, I could never really understand why…_' the blue-haired girl chose to keep that last, less than flattering thought regarding her cousin's crush, to herself.

Nate's face went red at the sudden mention of his crush, the boy quickly going into the defensive, "W-What, me and-and K-Katie, where would you get– "

"Nate; we've been over this, and I'm not an idiot!" Jessica gave a dull glare to the boy beside her, "Don't try to pretend you don't have a crush on Katie; it's insulting to me, for thinking I'd fall for it, and insulting to yourself, for acting like you believe I would believe that!"

"I… don't know what to say to that," Nate admitted, lowering his head.

"Yeah,_ that's_ part of the problem," Jessica criticized, but still patted her cousin on the shoulder in a comforting way.

"Hey, don't forget me!" Hailey suddenly shouted, popping up from behind the two.

Usapyon was following close behind his human partner but chose not to say anything.

"Hailey!?" Nate jumped in surprise.

"How long have you been there!?" Jessica questioned, seeming less surprised than Nate.

"Long enough!" the purple-haired girl seemed smug about that, "Now… what's this I hear about you being 'engaged,' Nate!?" Hailey exclaimed, trying to keep her usual excitement, but there was a clear strain in her voice.

Jessica seemed to notice her friend's change in demeanor, as she was giving her a slightly suspicious look…

Nate just seemed annoyed with the bespectacled girl, "You misheard, _and_ it's none of your business!"

"Come on, buddy!" Hailey waved her arms, jumping into Nate's line of vision each time he looked away, "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Nate started twitching from the excessive badgering from the purple-haired girl, before he thought of something, "Hey, weren't you with your brother? And what happened to Hanako anyway?" '_And Whisper, come to think of it…_'

"Left my brother with my mom, as for Toil-I mean-Hanako… I don't," the purple-haired girl shrugged, "I was teasing Joshua about him having a crush on her, and she just… left?"

Nate stared at the glasses-wearing girl with slight disbelief.

"Anyway, never you mind any of that; _TELL ME_!" Hailey went right back to badgering the boy.

Nate growled, but right before he was considering yelling at his female friend to shut up, the group was shaken by, what seemed to be the sound of a baby crying, echoed through the air, catching the kids' attention.

Jessica jumped to her feet quickly, a frantic look in her eyes, "Nyanses!"

Both Nate and Hailey gave confused looks as Jessica rushed in the direction of the crying, before glancing to each other, "Nyanses…?"

* * *

"I think it's coming from over here!" Sailornyan concluded as she climbed up a rock, which lead up to a tide pool filled area, the sound crying still audible.

"Oh, you _think_ it's coming from here?" Jibanyan gave the other nekomata an unimpressed glare, his ears twitching a bit, "I _knyow_ it's coming from up here, your ears must be pretty bad if you only_ think_ it is!"

"You knyow what I meant; you don't have to be a jerk about it!" Sailornyan snapped, looking down at the other cat, before her eyes narrowed, "And stop looking up my skirt!"

Jibanyan stiffened at that accusation, a slight blush coming to his face, before he started shaking his head and glared back up at the pink feline, "I'm nyot doing that! And we don't nyormally wear clothing anyway!"

"PERVERT!" Sailornyan kicked down a rock.

"Ow!" Jibanyan cried out after the small rock hit him on the head, before he let out a hiss, "I hate you!"

"Likewise!" the pink nekomata hissed back, "Now come on, we're almost there!"

"_Oh_, we're almost there, huh, well then _don't_ pelt me with rocks until I fall," Jibanyan grumbled under his breath as he continued climbing up, choosing to look to the side as he did so, in case Sailornyan tried pulling the 'pervert' card, again…

Some grunts sounded from the two felines as they made the rest of the way up the rock, with Sailornyan making it up first.

"Come on, Slownyan!" Sailornyan mocked as she looked down at the, still climbing, cat.

"Hey, how about helping me up, why don't you!?" Jibanyan snarled as he glared up at Sailornyan, only to be hit on the head by a rock.

"PERVERT, stop looking up my skirt!" Sailornyan snarled, holding another rock ready.

"That would be impossible to see from this angle!" Jibanyan snapped, only to be hit in the head by another rock, "OW! Oh, come on!"

"Pervy-PERVE!" Sailornyan roared, throwing more rocks at the red feline.

"Ow! Ow! OW! STO-OW!" eventually Jibanyan lost his grip, came falling back down, and onto the sand, "GRAH!?"

"… Oops," Sailornyan blinked, looking down at the fallen nekomata, with minimal concern.

"Nya…" Jibanyan mumbled dizzily as he pulled himself back up.

"Jibanyan, I, um…" Sailornyan gave a sheepish look as she padded over to the other cat, "Um… sorry?"

Jibanyan spat out some sand from his mouth, standing on four legs and shaking some of the grains out of his fur, before giving the pink nyan a dull loo, "Whatever, forget it, let's just get back up to the…" the red nekomata paused, staring at the pink one blankly, "Wait… how did you get back down so fast…?"

Sailornyan also paused, looking confused, before glancing back up at the rocky area she had come down from, before slowly glancing down an incline in it, going back down to the sand, a bit to the left.

"Are you _kidding_ me!?" Jibanyan growled in a low tone.

"Uh, yeah… didn't see that," Sailornyan gave an embarrassed chuckle, before glancing down at the sand shamefully.

The red nekomata kept glaring at the pink one for a brief moment, before he started moving, "Let's just get up there, and see what's making that crying sound…"

And so, the feline duo moved over to and began walking up the incline on the stone ground, up to the tide pool area of the beach, to finally get to the bottom of where that crying was coming from…

"VENYOCT!?" both nekomata cried out in shock when they made it to where the crying was coming from.

What the feline duo were met with was the sight of the humanoid yo-kai, holding a blue nekomata kitten by the tails. The kitten was wearing a blue and gold striped Nemes on his head, had a pink pacifier in his mouth, and was crying his eyes out.

"WAH! Let Nyanses go! Nyanses didn't do anything!" the little nekomata cried as he was dangled by the tails.

"And how exactly can I just take your word for that!?" Venoct spoke seriously as he glared at the feline, "How do I know you aren't here to assassinate my master, using your small form to appear innocent, just before you strike!?"

"I wouldn't do that! Nyanses not a bad kitty, Nyanses healer!" the kitten pleaded, his eyes filled with tears.

"_And_, THAT'S EXACTLY WHY NOBODY WOULD SUSPECT YOU AS AN ASSASSIN!" Venoct shouted, staring at the little nekomata with wide, bloodshot eyes.

'Nyanses' eyes watered more as he began whimpering, his body shaking as he stared into the deadly serious eyes of the ninja-like yo-kai…

"Venyoct, stop that!" Sailornyan suddenly shouted, jumping over to the humanoid, waving her paws rapidly, "Let that kitten go!"

"Yeah, dude, this is screwy!" Jibanyan added, running up just behind the female, "It's just a kid, let him go!"

"_Or_, is that just what he wants us to think!?" Venoct hissed suspiciously, narrowing his eyes further.

"Venyoct, you're acting irrationyal!" Sailornyan exclaimed with concern, and fear for the young feline.

"No, I am just taking the proper precautions for the defense of our master!" Venoct countered, holding the blue cat up high by the tails, inciting more crying, "This could very well be an innocent child, and if so; I am deeply sorry, but the other possibility is too great a risk! I cannot leave Master Nate's life to chance, when there's something I could do to ensure his safety!"

"When exactly did Venyoct go _insane_!?" Jibanyan shouted with a horrified expression.

"You mean he wasn't always like this?" Sailornyan took a moment to process this, before shaking her head and glaring at the humanoid yo-kai, "Venyoct, as your superior, I _order _you to release him!"

Jibanyan gawked at his female counterpart's choice of actions, "Wait, _what_!? You can't possibly think that will work!"

However, contrary to what Jibanyan seemed to think, Venoct froze up at Sailornyan's words, before lowering the sniffling feline to the ground, and releasing him.

"_WHAT_!?" Jibanyan just stared with wide eyes at this turn of events.

"I agreed to serve Master Nate, with all of my being, and disregarding the chain of command would be just as disloyal as disobeying him directly," Venoct spoke in a grave tone. "Sailornyan is above me in the chain of command, as she is a constant companion at Master Nate's side, acting as loyal defender, companion, and medic for him. If she is commanding me to release the potential-assassin, it must be with Master Nate's best interests in mind."

Sailornyan nodded with a prideful smile, "Yes, I would nyever order you to do something that would put the captain in danger! You were going to far Venyoct, and if you hurt an innyocent child for the sake of defending him, it would throw Captain Nyate into a depression, that he may nyot recover from!"

Venoct's eyes widened in shock and realization at the pink feline's statement, "Ug, you're correct! How could I have been so foolish! I sought to defend my master from all possible bodily harm, but I didn't take into account the psychological damage the possibility of my mistakes could have!" the ninja-like yo-kai quickly bowed to the female nekomata, "Thank you, Sailornyan, for preventing me from committing a grievous error against our master!"

"Am I the only one who is completely lost here…?" Jibanyan muttered, his eyes going blank, blinking a few times.

'Nyanses' was just staring at Sailornyan with sparkling eyes, his cheeks turning pink, "P-Pwetty giwl…"

Jibanyan turned his blank look to the smaller nekomata, before he simply gave a grunt and shook his head.

"Nyanses!"

The small nekomata was suddenly scooped up into a set of arms.

"Jessica!" the little feline exclaimed in happiness, as the blue-haired girl cradled him.

"Wait, hold on, what's going on here!?" Nate questioned, his footsteps clicking against the stone surface of the tide pool area as he walked over to his cousin, shortly followed by Hailey and Usapyon.

"Wow, Jessica! You have a yo-kai friend!?" Hailey exclaimed in surprise and joy, thrilled at the idea of her best friend also knowing about yo-kai.

"Yo-what now?" Jessica questioned with a blank expression, "'Yo-kai?' like, the mythological creatures from folklore…?"

Nate and Hailey both gave Jessica blank looks in response to her confusion.

"Uh, Jessica…" Nate spoke carefully, "Don't you notice that the cat you're holding, is a _nekomata_…?"

Jessica blinked, before holding the feline up a bit, focusing on the two flame-tipped tails that dangled from his back, "Oh yeah, I guess he is…"

There was a moment of silence between the children.

"Wait, can she see us?" Jibanyan questioned after a second, but the lack of response from Jessica seemed to indicate the answer was, no.

"Master!" Venoct shouted, jumping over to Nate, and bowing, "I shamefully must report that I have committed a crime most heinous, in your name!"

"Wait, what…?" Nate gave the yo-kai a strange look, before his eyes narrowed, "What did you do!?"

"Nate, who is that weird kid dressed like a ninja, with a dragon-head scarf?" Jessica questioned as she stepped next to her cousin, "And, _why _did he call you 'master?'"

"That meanie shook Nyanses! He called Nyanses an 'assassin!'" the little nekomata in the girl's arms suddenly cried out, pointing an accusatory paw at the ninja.

"Wait, what!?" both Jessica and Nate had practically identical reactions of shock and outrage.

"I'm afraid it is true, my master!" Venoct nodded with shame in his eyes, "In my pursuit to protect you, I lost sight of right and wrong, and behaved in a brutish manner towards this, most likely-innocent child!" he bowed his head again, "Punish me as you see fit!"

Nate lightly swatted Venoct on the head, shaking his own quickly, "No! Would you _stop_ asking me to punish you!?" the brunette groaned, placing a hand to his forehead, before giving his self-appointed bodyguard a serious look, "Geez, just apologize! Alright! You don't have to defer to me for everything, and you don't need to be punished for every mistake you make! Just, _own up to it_, alright!?"

Jessica and Nyanses slowly glanced at each other as Nate reprimanded the humanoid yo-kai, both looking rather confused.

"I understand," Venoct nodded, before turning to Jessica and Nyanses, his head bowed, "I deeply apologize for my thoughtless actions, I'm afraid I have nothing to offer in compensation, aside from this apology, but I pray it is enough to begin the road to forgiveness."

Jessica and Nyanses still looked rather confused, and a bit frightened.

"Um, so long as you learned your lesson," the blue-haired girl gave a weak smile.

"N-Nyanses fowgives," the little cat yo-kai whimpered.

"Your mercy is on par with that of my master, I shall not forget this!" Venoct rose his head with a serious look in his eyes, before he swiftly moved to a position a few meters behind Nate, keeping a close eye on the boy as he did so.

"Um… okay?" Jessica blinked, before she looked over at Nate, "Seriously, what's up with that guy…?"

"Uh, it's… hard to explain," Nate had an uncomfortable expression as he averted his eyes.

"JESSICA!" Hailey exclaimed loudly, jumping over to her friend, an excited look on her face.

"Hailey!?" Jessica jumped out of surprise.

"WAH!" Nyanses let out a wail of fear, clinging to Jessica.

"Jessica, when did you get a yo-kai partner!? When did you find out about yo-kai!? Do you have a yo-kai watch!? Why didn't you tell me!?" Hailey rapid-fire questioned as she bounced around her friend, giddy from excitement.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Jessica yelled, rocking Nyanses in her arms to calm him down.

"Nyanses is scawed again!" the kitten cried, shaking in the blue-haired girl's arms.

"Hailey, hold yer horses, would ya'!?" Usapyon snapped, "Yer freakin' 'em out!"

"Oh, come on, Usapyon, I'm just trying to bring my bestie into the fold! She's got a yo-kai friend!" Hailey exclaimed with determination.

"Who are you talking to, Hailey!? _What_ are you talking about!?" Jessica questioned again in a frantic tone.

"She can't even see me, Hailey! I think this isn't quite the situation ya' think it is!" Usapyon pointed out, crossing his arms.

"What? But she's got a yo-kai! See!?" Hailey exclaimed, pointing to the little nekomata in her friend's arms.

"Jessica, where did you find this guy…?" Nate questioned slowly, looking at his confused cousin.

Before Jessica could answer, the kitten chose that moment to free himself from her arms, jumping down to the ground and facing the intimidating (to him) humans, "Nyanses?"

"Nyanses is Nyanses II, a yo-kai pwince!" the small nekomata crossed his arms proudly, though his tiny size, and the pacifier in his mouth, took from the image he probably wanted to give off.

**Heartful Tribe: Nyanses II**

"Interesting, it seems Nyanses II is the youngest child of the Mystery Legendary Yo-kai; Bastnetnyan, and the younger half-brother of the Treasure Yo-kai; Meopatra!" Whisper exclaimed as he looked over the blue nekomata's profile on his yo-kai pad, "What a royal family lineage, though it does beg the question of what the little guy is doing out here, so far from his family."

"Whisper!?" Nate gawked at the sudden reappearance of his yo-kai butler, "Where'd you come from!?"

"Okay, now who are _you_ talking to, Nate!?" Jessica looked like she was starting to get frustrated.

Nate suddenly took on a nervous and unsure look as he turned back to his cousin, "Wait, hold on, you can see him?" the boy gestured to the nekomata kitten. "But you can't see _him_?" he then pointed to the yo-kai butler.

"Whoever you are pointing to; _no_, I can't see anyone there!" Jessica spoke with a slight growl, her patience wearing thin.

"Not sure why you think this is worth questioning, Nate," Whisper shrugged, with a slightly condescending tone to his voice, "You're well aware of several yo-kai everyone can see, after all!"

Nate glared at his butler, before shaking his head and sighing.

"All can pewceive Nyanses' fowm!" Nyanses II suddenly exclaimed, raising his paws to emphasize his point, "But only those who awe wowthy may see Nyanses as he twuly is! Othews may only see a nowmal cat!"

"Uh…" Nate gave a blank look at the small nekomata's boasting.

"I found him wandering around in our apartment building's underground parking lot," Jessica spoke up, looking down at Nyanses strangely, "I wasn't sure what to make of him at first; a talking kitten, dressed like an Egyptian Pharaoh!?" she released a little chuckle.

"Don't make fun of Nyanses!" the nekomata kitten shouted in protest, stomping his little paw on the stone ground.

The blue-haired girl just pat the small nekomata on the head, before continue, "He seemed lost, and was asking for a place to stay, so I decided to take him home, but weirdly; mom and dad didn't see him as I did, they seemed to see him as an ordinary kitten…"

"Only the wowthy can pewceive Nyanses' twue fowm!" the cat yo-kai repeated, raising both paws to the sky.

Jessica looked at Nyanses with a blank look for a few seconds, before nodding, "Right…" she looked around awkwardly for a moment, "Anyway! Mom and dad let me keep him, and we've been together ever since!"

"Jessica is Nyanses' most twusted confidant!" the cat yo-kai declared proudly.

"But… this is the first I'm hearing of this 'yo-kai' stuff…" Jessica quickly added, raising a brow as she looked between her cousin and best friend.

"Wow, that's confusing," Hailey muttered, scratching her head a bit, "You never thought to question why the cat could talk?"

Jessica's expression turned slightly annoyed, "I did, but his idea of answering consisted of going into some grand speech about his '_gweatnyess_,' which I just couldn't sit through…"

"DON'T MOCK NYANSES!" the kitten started flailing around, scowling as tears started forming in his eyes.

Jessica just picked the little yo-kai up again, which calmed him down, almost immediately.

"I'm still having a hard time following what's going on," Jibanyan muttered with an annoyed sigh.

"That's because you're an idiot," Sailornyan scoffed.

Jibanyan's eye twitched at the sudden insult, before he pointed at the other cat, "I'm nyot an idiot, you're an idiot!"

Sailornyan hissed, "Nyo, you're an idiot!"

"Nyo, you're an idiot!"

"Nyo, you are!"

"Nyo, you are!"

"You are!"

"You are!"

"YOU ARE!"

"YOU ARE!"

"STOP!" Nate suddenly shouted, silencing the two nekomata, who looked at the human boy with a bit of surprise.

"Stop _what_…?" Jessica gave a confused, and slightly nervous, look to her cousin.

Nate paused in surprise, before giving a sheepish expression, "Oh, right; you can't see or hear them…"

"_Who_ can't I see or hear!?" Jessica was starting to look very annoyed, tapping her foot on the ground for emphasis.

Nate coughed, glancing down at the ground unsurely, "Right, I'm… gonna need to explain some things to you now, aren't I…?"

"Daww, you're so cute when your confuddled, Nate!" Hailey let out a dreamy giggle.

Nate blinked, "What?"

"What?" Hailey questioned, a blank look on her face.

"Guys!" Jessica hissed, bringing the attention back to her, "I still want an explanation here!"

"_Yes_, I would like an explanation too," a cool, female voice hissed, making the group aware of a newcomer who had someone snuck up on them without any notice.

Stepping up forward on the rocky ground with red heels, (which had the kids internally questioning why someone would wear those to the beach) was who appeared to be a tall, pale-skinned, teenage girl, with short purple hair, with a red bow in it, wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse, and a red dress with suspenders, over it. The girl had piercing yellow eyes that were narrowed into near-slits, and, perhaps most notably of all; she had pointed ears

"What the–who's this now!?" Jessica gawked.

"I don't know!" Nate quickly responded, looking just as confused as his cousin.

"And the plot thickens," Hailey commented to herself.

"_Shut up_, already!" Usapyon growled.

"I heard a commotion, so I decided to come check things out," the pointy-eared girl grunted, glaring at each of the children and yo-kai with narrowed eyes, "Seems whatever was going on has been resolved."

"Get behind me, Master!" Venoct suddenly spoke seriously, glaring at the girl, "There's something off about her… something… threatening…"

"What are you talking about, Venoct?" Nate sighed, thinking this was more of the ninja yo-kai's paranoia. However, he soon took notice that he wasn't the only one on edge. "Huh…? Jibanyan, Sailornyan?"

The two mentioned nekomata were on all fours, glaring at the strange girl, their tails pointed straight up, along with the fur on their backs, while hisses emitted from their mouths and their eyes had turned to slits.

Nyanses was having a similar reaction, though while he was hissing with slit eyes, instead of taking an offensive stance, he was retreating further into the protective embrace of Jessica's arms.

"Captain Nyate, be careful," Sailornyan hissed.

"Yeah, I feel something weird about her, familiar…" Jibanyan growled, the flames on his tails flaring a bit, "I think she's a yo-kai!"

Nate gave a look of slight disbelief, "A yo-kai, what…?"

"What did your invisible friend say, Nate?" Jessica seemed worried by Nyanses' reaction to the newcomer.

"Oh, oh! I know this one! I know!" Hailey suddenly exclaimed, raising her hand as if she wanted to ask a question in class.

"_Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!_" Usapyon growled under his breath as he sent his human partner a death glare, which she ignored.

"That's not your true form, is it!?" Hailey concluded with an enthusiastic smile, "You've taken on that form to blend in with us humans, and to get closer to our harem protagonist here!"

Sailornyan's hissing grew a bit more aggressive at the prospect of another rival for her captain's affection.

"Stop calling me a 'harem protagonist!" Nate snapped, an embarrassed expression on his face.

The strange girl's expression changed to one of blank befuddlement, "I-I'm sorry, _what_? 'Harem protagonist?' My form…?" her expression changed to one of anger, her eyes turning to slits and her teeth becoming sharp, like a cat's, "What exactly are you implying!?" a feline hiss escaped from the girl's mouth.

"Ah, so you're some kind of cat yo-kai!" Hailey concluded, undeterred by the supposed yo-kai's aggression. "But you're not interested in Nate here…?"

"Nate…?" the cat-like girl hissed a bit again, narrowing her eyes at the boy, seemingly calming down a bit, "Are you Nathan Adams…?"

Nate was surprised at being suddenly addressed, knocking him out of his embarrassed state as he looked to the girl with a bit of apprehension, "Um… y-yes?"

"The self-proclaimed 'Yo-kai Master…?'" the pointy-eared girl seemed to speak with some disgust.

"P-Please don't call me that, I never claimed to be the 'Yo-kai Master,' and I'd prefer if people would stop calling me that," Nate whimpered, feeling frightened by the way the girl was looking at him.

"Yeah, he actually hates it when people call him that!" Jibanyan chimed in, feeling strangely protective of his human friend at that moment.

"If you would dare to harm my master, I will not hesitate to fight you with my full strength!" Venoct threatened, an aura of yo-kai energy forming around him.

The cat-like girl snorted, "I see at least you have a good deal of respect from these yo-kai, but I wanted to tell you now…" her eyes narrowed further, flashing a golden color, "Whether you claimed to be the 'Yo-kai Master,' or not, either way; I don't buy it!" she sneered, revealing her sharp teeth once more, her fingernails extending into sharp claws that she held out threateningly. "There's no way a _human_ could hold that much significance to yo-kai!"

"I won't let you hurt the captain!" Sailornyan growled, the flames on her tails flaring, like Jibanyan's.

"Hmph, I have no interest in hurting a defenseless human child!" the cat-like girl snapped, pulling her hand back as her claws retracted, "I'm just saying; I don't buy the stuff I've heard about you! And, I've got my eye on you!"

"_I'm so confused_…" Jessica muttered to herself, while soothing Nyanses by stroking his fur, having pretty much given up on understanding the current situation.

"So, wait, you're not being overtaken by his 'harem effect…?'" Hailey blinked in confusion, the cat-like girl's disinterest in Nate on a romantic level seemingly the only thing she was focusing on.

"_HAILEY!_" Nate growled, glaring at the bespectacled girl with demonic eyes, looking not dissimilar to his mother when she got mad.

"_Harem-what-now_?" the cat-like girl was right back to being befuddled, before she just growled and shook her head, "Okay, you know what; forget it! I only came over here to see what the crying was about, but that seems to have been resolved, so I'm gone! I've got better places to be!"

"Honestly, what a rude young lady!" Whisper chose that moment to speak up, circling around the girl with his arms crossed and a critical expression on his face, "I must ask; who exactly do you think you are, that you can just come charging in, insult and intimidate my master, and just be on your way!?"

The yo-kai girl growled, her eyes turning cat-like one more as she held up a clawed hand towards the yo-kai butler, "I'm Neko-Musume! Don't forget it, floating marshmallow!"

**Charming Tribe: Neko-Musume**

The name she gave in response had Whisper reeling back, his eyes widening, and his body trembling, "Ne-Ne-Neko-Musume!? _THE _Neko-Musume!?"

"Neko-Musume…?" Nate looked confused at the moniker, "So… your _name_ is literally '_cat girl_…?'"

Neko-Musume growled lowly at the boy.

"NATHAN!" Whisper moved to smack the boy in the back of the head.

"Master!" Venoct got between the two, using his Dragon Scarf to knock the djinn onto the ground.

"Huh…?" Nate glanced down at the fallen Whisper with a blank expression.

"Alright… _not_ one of my most intelligent decisions," the yo-kai butler admitted as he floated back up, rubbing the back of his head, before he pulled out his yo-kai pad, and started swiping through pages, "Still, such a response to a han-yo as notable as _the_ Neko-Musume!? I simply had to reprimand you, Nate!"

"I've nyever heard of her!" Jibanyan interjected.

"Me nyeither," Sailornyan nodded.

Whisper sent the two nekomata a snide look, "Well, that honestly doesn't surprise me."

"Do not refer to me as a 'han-yo,'" Neko-Musume growled, giving the butler a threatening glare.

"What's a 'han-yo…?'" Nate gave a confused look.

Venoct moved around the boy to stand at his side, before bowing, "Master, a 'han-yo' refers to a being that is half-human, and half-yo-kai, usually the product of a yo-kai and human having a child together."

Nate seemed to freeze in surprise at that concept, "That… can _happen_!?"

"Hm, you seem to have had a _bit_ of a growth spurt since your last picture was taken…" Whisper commented as he looked from his yo-kai pad, to Neko-Musume.

Neko-Musume snarled, looking like she was ready to claw the yo-kai butler to pieces…

"Neko Onee-san!"

The sudden call had Neko-Musume stopping in what she was doing, looking over the edge of the tidpool area, and back onto the sandy beach, "Mana…?"

A brown-haired girl gave a happy smile and a wave, "Come on! There's this restaurant over on the other side of the beach that sells great shrimp fried rice!"

"Shrimp friend rice," Neko-Musume seemed interested by the prospect of food, jumping down to meet with the other girl, "Alright then, let's go."

"Mana, is this one of those 'friends,' you were talking about?" Amy questioned as she came walking over, smiling at Neko-Musume in a friendly manner.

"Oh, yeah," Mana nodded cheerfully to her classmate, gesturing to Neko-Musume, "This is Neko-Musume."

"So… is this one of those 'secret friends,' you go into the forest to meet?" Amy teased.

"Hey now, I told you I won't tell on that!" Mana stuck out her tongue, before giving a playful giggle.

Nate chose not to reveal himself to the new girl, for fear of gaining another 'harem girl,' so he, along with the others, just watched as she and Neko-Musume departed.

"Hold on, I must at least get her autograph!" Whisper cried out, but he was held by one of the heads of Venoct's Dragon Scarf. "Let me go!"

"No, you are not going to put Master into further danger," Venoct stated firmly.

"Well… I still want explanations, but… I think I'll try getting them later," Jessica commented with a tired look, carrying Nyanses II with her as she started walking down the slope.

"I'll… try to give one to you, later," Nate nodded to his overwhelmed cousin as she departed.

While in the blue-haired girl's arms, the little kitten looked back, focusing on one yo-kai in particular, "So pwetty…" Nyanses II muttered in a mesmerized tone as he stared at Sailornyan, his face going red.

"What was that, Nyanses?" Jessica blinked, looking down at her yo-kai companion.

"N-Nyothing, Nyanses said nyothing!" the little nekomata insisted as the girl continued in her departure.

"… Nya?" Sailornyan seemed to have noticed Nyanses' stare as he was leaving, though she looked mostly confused by it.

"Hey, Nate! I can see you up there! You too Rudy!" Amy shouted, waving her arms wildly to get their attention.

Nate looked down at the thirteen-year-old girl, before he shook his head, "No, can't do it right now, sorry Amy!" and with that, the boy fled before any of his companions could even try following.

"Huh, Nate!" Hailey called out in surprise.

"But… there was someone I wanted to introduce you to," Amy commented a bit too late.

Jibanyan just sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, directed at both Amy, and Nate…

* * *

Nate ran across the sand, looking through the crowds of people populating the beach, before he finally got a glimpse at his crush once more, "Ka– "

"Natey-kins, there you are!"

Nate suddenly found himself pulled into an overly affectionate hug by an enthusiastic girl, "M-Meg!?"

Megan Jones giggled as she kept hugging her crush for about ten seconds, before releasing him and letting out a cheer, "I'd been looking for you, my Natey-kins! This beach party is the perfect opportunity for us to spend some much-needed time together, don't you think!?"

"I, uh, sure…?" Nate kept trying to look past Meg, focused on the shrinking vision of Katie, but the pigtailed girl kept moving back into his line of sight.

"So…?" Meg's grin widened as she took on a showoffy pose.

"So…?" Nate was barely paying attention to Meg, continuing to attempt looking at Katie, his eyes growing more desperate as she moved further and further away.

"What do you think?" Meg questioned playfully.

"What do I think of what?" Nate still was not paying much attention to the pigtailed girl, whimpering a bit as he tried to get by her to go after Katie.

Megan's eye twitched a bit, though her smile did not waver, "My _swimsuit_, Natey-kins! What do _you_ think about _my swimsuit_!?"

Nate blinked, finally processing that Megan Jones was, in fact, _wearing a swimsuit_, and that she looked rather cute in it too.

Well, Nate would admit Meg pretty much always looked cute, crush on Katie or not, it really couldn't be denied that the pigtailed girl's cuteness… that didn't mean he was interested in her, of course!

The design of Meg's swimsuit was a simple one-piece, in a pink coloration, with white polka dots. The girl posed once more, now that she had Nate's attention.

"You look good Meg, but I need to…" Nate trailed off as he looked by the girl again, only to let out a sigh of disappointment when he saw that Katie was gone. Giving a heavy groan, Nate turned his focus back to the aspiring-popstar, "Alright, Meg, what is it you wanted again…?"

Meg frowned, clearly annoyed that she didn't seem to be the first thing on her crush's mind, but still, she was going to take what she could get, and hopefully convince him to be her boyfriend along the way! "Well, as a matter of fact Nate, what I want– "

"H-Hey, Nate," Shelly, clad in a light blue bathing suit, shyly greeted as she approached.

Nate took a few steps away from the two girls, to get some space, "Um, Shelly? Yeah, hi, nice to– "

"NATE!" Fubuki cheered as she popped up beside the boy, wearing an icy blue swimsuit, and clasping her hands together, "I've been looking for– "

"GET LOST!" the disguised forms of Insomni, and Sandi, shouted as they pushed Fubuki to the side, before smiling brightly at Nate, Insomni wore a purple swimsuit, while Sandi had a red one, "Nate, we've been waiting for a chance to– "

"GET BACK, CRAZY TWINS!" Meg growled like a rabid dog, taking the disguised djinn sisters by surprise.

The girls were starting to become a free-for-all, and Nate just let out a very tired groan, before he took the opportunity to lee again…

* * *

'_Alright, no more distractions! Gotta talk to Katie! Talk too Katie! TALK TO KATIE!_'

"Hi Nate!"

Nate tried to ignore the alluring voice as he continued his trek to locate his crush.

"Nate? Hey, Nate! Didn't you hear me…?"

Nate found himself stiffening at her sad tone of voice, he couldn't help himself, he slowly turned to look at the one calling to him…

That was a mistake.

"_I-Isa-Isabel_!?" Nate found himself stuttering uncontrollably, his face burning red as he stared at the girl that he, _most definitely did not_, have a crush on!

"About time you heard me," the blond-haired girl let out little giggle as she smiled at the boy, a slight dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks.

Nate just stared at Isabel with a dumb expression; his vision of Isabel was one of dreamy sparkles, noting how the bow usually found in her hair was missing, and her curly locks were blowing in the wind, and staring at the dark blue one-piece swimsuit she wore, which also had some sparkling frilly bits that gave it an almost mermaid-like design, "Is-Is-Isabel, you, um–I, uh… you! Pretty!?"

The wealthy girl let out another giggle at the compliment (if you could call it that?), "Well, uh, thank you!"

"I-I-YOU! GIRL! CUTE!" Nate seemed to be unable to think coherently as he kept staring at Isabel in an absolutely mesmerized state.

Isabel was starting to look a little unsure, "Uh, th-that's nice of you to say… I think…"

"I-Uh, uh… I GO!" Nate shouted, turning to run, falling face-first into the sand, before quickly pulling himself back up and scurrying off.

"Uh… okay… bye…?" Isabel gave a confused look as she waved to her departing crush, '_What was that all about…?_'

* * *

'_YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL! YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL! YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL!_' Nate kept mentally repeating to himself madly as he kept running across the sandy ground of the beach, ignoring all the strange stares he was getting from the various people who were trying to enjoy their days at the beach…

"My Nate, I'm glad I caught up to you!" Elisabeth's voice called out from nearby.

'_NOPE!_' Nate quickly started running as fast as he could, in the opposite direction of Elisabeth's voice…

Nate was stopped dead in his tracks once more as he found himself running into a girl his own age, with short brown-hair and similarly colored eyes, she also seemed like brick wall when Nate ran into her, despite the fact she was smaller than him…

"Ow, what the…?" Nate groaned as he felt onto his bottom, before looking up at the girl with confusion.

The girl smiled obliviously to the fallen boy, waving her arm, "Hi there!"

"Uh… hi?" Nate found himself unsure of what to make of the girl's overly enthusiastic smile, and her bouncy demeanor, which was completely contrast to how she felt like solid rock when he had bumped into her.

"Wow, you fell just then, you okay!?" the girl quickly questioned with concern as she helped the boy back up.

Nate still seemed confused by the girl, but shook it off as he began to answer, "I– "

"I'm Mako Mankanshoku, the underachiever of Class 5-3!" the girl suddenly added, looking rather proud, holding out the same hand she had used to help the boy back up, in an offer to shake it, "What's your name!?"

"H-Huh…?" Nate was taken off guard by the sudden interruption, "M-My name is– "

"WAIT, I KNOW YOU!" Mako suddenly interrupted again, pointing at the boy as she jumped, "I heard some of my classmates talking about you, you're Nathan Adams; the Harem Master!"

"W-What!?" Nate gawked at the brazen exclamation, "D-Don't call me that!"

"OH WAIT, are you gonna add me to your harem!?" Mako suddenly exclaimed, looking strangely excited at that idea.

"WHAT!?" Nate's jaw dropped, not able to fully process what this girl was shouting about.

"It's really sudden, but I'll definitely think about it," Mako turned away, a thoughtful look on her face, as the sound of a clock ticking seemed to come from nowhere, before an imaginary lightbulb appeared over her head, and she turned back to where Nate stood, a big smile, and her cheeks turning pink, "ALRIGHT, I'LL– " Mako stopped mid-shout, realizing Nate was gone, "… Huh? Where'd you go!?"

* * *

Nate's eyes were wide with confusion from the sudden abduction, finding himself a top the roof of a building near the beach, among a familiar group of yo-kai.

"Finally caught you, Nate!" Little Charrmer gave a bright grin as she placed the boy down, before she gave a thoughtful look, tapping her chin, "Hmm, should we come up with a hero name for you? What would be good…?"

"Boss! _Please_ tell me you didn't just _kidnap_ young Nathan!" The Jawsome Kid suddenly shouted, making his presence known to said kid.

"Kidnap? Of course not!" Little Charrmer scoffed at the idea, crossing her arms as she glared at the shark-man, "I'm a hero! I don't kidnap people!"

"I'm seriously starting to doubt that," Dr. E. Raser grunted as he floated over, giving Nate the briefest of sympathetic looks, before fully focusing on his leader, "I _thought_ we already went over this!"

"And, I thought _I_ already went over this with you!" Little Charrmer snap, holding Nate close to her, which had his face going red. "Nathan Adams is no ordinary human, he is the Yo-kai Master– "

"Please don't call me that," Nate pleaded out of embarrassment, but was ignored.

"His experience in yo-kai-related matters is the stuff of legends!" the yo-kai heroine praised.

"I don't think you really understand a lot of the circumstances behind the events you're referencing," Nate tried to explain, but was still ignored.

"He's fought the toughest of opponents and befriended even those among the unruliest of yo-kai!" Little Charrmer raised a hand with an amazed expression.

"That's an exaggeration," Nate muttered, mostly to himself, expecting to be ignored at this point.

"His powers aren't bound by life or death, time or space! He transcends such things, no matter the time and place he is needed, he shall be there!" the red-clad hero's hand turned to a fist as her eyes sparkled.

Nate's expression turned blank, "Okay… that's just untrue."

"Anyway, we do still need to come up with your hero name, and design a costume, but that will have to wait!" Little Charrmer exclaimed with a positive grin, "There was a robbery at the museum the other night, and we're sure the culprits are still in Springdale!"

"R-Robbery? Culprits!?" Nate shook his head, giving a look of disbelief, "I-I didn't hear anything about that!"

"That's because the only things stolen were from the yo-kai side of the museum, and there were no noticeable signs of a break-in, from a human perspective, that is," Dr. E. Raser spoke up, giving a serious look as he floated around the group, "The culprits clearly knew what they were after."

Nate gave a quizzical look, "Wait, there's a 'yo-kai side' to the museum…?"

"You didn't know?" The Jawsome Kid looked at the human boy with curious disbelief.

"Of course he knew! He's the _Yo-kai Master_, he's _obviously_ kidding!" Little Charrmer jumped in, waving her arms in an exaggerated motion, and sending a beaming smile to the 'Yo-kai Master.'

"I really don't know, and I asked you to stop calling me that!" Nate yelled out, his embarrassment having passed, and had now been replaced with annoyance, "Please, tell me!"

"Basically, to sum it up in simple terms; there's more to Springdale than you see on the surface," Dr. E. Raser stated in a plain tone, "There's a large yo-kai population here, more interaction between them and the human-side of society, whether they know it or not, than in a lot of other places."

"So, yeah; there's a lot more 'yo-kai sides' of things, even businesses like the museum," The Jawsome Kid nodded, "And that 'yo-kai side' of the museum, if what got robbed!"

"Yo-kai side…?" Nate blinked, taking in the new information, "I had no idea…"

"Well, it's not exactly somethin' dat's heavily advertised, so can't really blame ya'," Unbearaboy! assured, crossing his arms and nodding.

"I guess…" Nate muttered with a thoughtful look, '_I guess I didn't really know what a lot of the yo-kai around town spent most of their time doing, it kind of makes sense that there'd be stuff for them, alongside all the stuff for humans._'

"Yeah, no need to worry about what you knew or didn't know!" Little Charrmer suddenly exclaimed, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulder and hugging him close to her, "I am surprised someone as well connected with the yo-kai community hadn't heard of this before, but don't sweat it! I'm sure we can both teach each other lots of things in our time together!"

Nate gave a surprised gasp at the sudden close contact, his face turning bright red.

The other members of Tempest Pride gave annoyed and/or concerned looks at their leader's actions.

"Little Charrmer," Dr. E. Raser spoke in a no-nonsense tone, pointing a bony finger towards his superior, "We _do_ have a mission to get to, so… would you mind?"

Little Charrmer took a couple seconds too long to react to the other yo-kai hero's voice, and when she did she gave a bit of a pout as she released the, still red-faced, Nate, before giving a cough and regaining her usual demeanor.

"Right, let's get going, team!" the leader cheered, being sure to send a subtle wink Nate's way, as she turned to look out at the town, spreading her wings.

"I still don't think dragging this poor kid along is a good idea," The Jawsome Kid muttered to himself with worry.

"Yeah, this isn't going to end well," Dr. E. Raser seemed to be concerned for a different reason than the shark-man, '_If this kind of stuff keeps up, that kid's going to snap…_'

* * *

"Hmm…" Katie hummed to herself as she looked over a burger, before taking a bite, "Hmm…" she swallowed, before giving a satisfied smile, "Wow, that _is_ a good burger!"

"I know, right?" Eddie smiled, holding a burger of his own, standing by his family's grill set-up, where his father was serving more burgers to other kids, "My parents got the best ingredients they could for this party!"

"I can tell!" Katie praised as she took another bite of her burger, though her enjoyment was interrupted, as her leg seemed to randomly shake a bit, as if something invisible were pushing it. The ponytailed girl grunted, glaring down at her leg, and whispering; "_Knock it off_."

Eddie's expression changed to one of confusion, "Um, Katie, you alright…?"

The girl gave a look reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights, before she quickly started waving her hands and giving a wide, fake, smile, "Y-Yeah, yeah! I'm fine! Great! There's definitely _not_ an invisible snake headbutting my leg!"

Eddie just gave a blank stare to that comment, "I-I'm sorry, _what_?"

"I didn't say anything," Katie's expression also turned blank, though her leg shook again, and her face turned to a snarl as she glared at the ground.

"WOW! THIS BURGER IS AMAZING!" Mako suddenly shouted, holding up her bigger with flames in her eyes, bringing the attention to her, "I'VE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING LIKE THIS! IT'S LIKE PARADISE FOR MY MOUTH!"

"… Who is that?" Eddie questioned as he stared at the girl.

"I think she's in Class 5-3," Katie reasoned, giving a subtle sigh of relief that the attention had been brought off her, '_Thank you, random loudmouthed girl…_'

Of course, Katie's thankfulness was quickly halted, by another bump to her leg…

"Would you knock if off already!?" Katie hissed as quietly as she could, glaring down at the yellow yo-kai, which glared back at her.

"Noko-noko!" Tsuchi hopped a few times, before headbutting Katie's leg again.

"I said I'd go talk to Nate, _later_, can't you be patient!?" the brunette girl growled.

"NOKO!" the reptile yo-kai did some more hops on the sand, headbutting Katie's leg between each hop.

A tick-mark formed on Katie's head from sheer frustration, "Alright already! I'll go find Nate!" she shouted, glaring down at the snake yo-kai, "Would that make you knock it off!?"

"NOKONOKONOKONOKO!" Tsuchi hopped around the girl quickly, sending a bit of sand flying in the process, which nobody else seemed to notice.

Katie let out a groan of defeat, her posture drooping… before she noticed that her sudden shout had everyone looking to her, "Uhh…"

"What…? 'Knock it off,' 'find Nate…?'" Eddie gave a baffled look.

"I uh, I mean…" Katie shuffled around nervously, unsure of how to excuse her sudden outburst.

"NOKO! NOKO!"

'_Curse you, evil snake!_' Katie thought with absolute hate, glaring down at her yo-kai 'friend,' as he seemed to cheer at her discomfort.

"Hey, uh… where _is_ Nate?" Bear suddenly questioned, walking over, looking around with a clueless expression, "I don't think I've seen him today…"

Eddie looked at Bear, before his eyes widened with realization, "Hey, yeah; I haven't seen him either! That's weird…"

"I-I saw him around, he's fine…" Katie assured, though she couldn't help but feel a bit concerned, '_Though, he hasn't popped up for a bit…_'

"Oh, you guys talking about the Harem Master!?" Mako suddenly interjected, rushing over to the three friends at lightning speed.

The three all gave blank stares.

"Oh, sorry! Almost forgot to introduce myself!" the hyper girl giggled, before holding her hand out, "Mako Mankanshoku; the Underachiever of Class 5-3, and newest addition to Harem Master Nate's harem!"

The blank stares turned to gawking expressions at that introduction.

"I'm sorry; you're _what_ now!?" Katie looked like she was moments from giving up on the concept of reality…

"I'm going to say I misheard something, and remove myself from this conversation, now!" Eddie stated in an emotionless tone, before he stiffly walked away.

"… I've gotta go too!" Bear suddenly shouted, before he ran off, leaving behind a dust cloud of kicked up sand.

Katie blinked, looking between where her two friends were previously, before it dawned on her what had just happened, "HEY! DON'T ABANDON ME! JERKS!"

"Hey, are you a member of Nate's harem too!?" Mako questioned, poking Katie's cheek without a moment of hesitation.

"GAH!?" Katie pushed the other girl's hand away, before she let out an annoyed grunt, "_No_, I am not. Could you just tell me where you saw Nate!?"

"Noko!" Tsuchi chimed in, even though Mako could not see, or hear him.

"Oh, so he hasn't snagged you yet?" Mako smiled innocently.

Katie felt incredibly infuriated at that moment, and had the overwhelming urge to _punch_ this girl, but she restrained said urge, "No! Just tell me where Nate is, I need to talk to him!"

"Oh, I dunno where he is now!" the self-proclaimed underachiever chuckled, putting her arms behind her neck and giving a cheerful grin, "I talked to him a while ago, when I got into his harem, but I haven't seen him since!"

Katie just gave the girl a dead-eyed glare.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" Tsuchi rammed his head into Katie's leg each time he said 'Noko!'

"OH! ARE THOSE BEEF SKEWERS!?" Mako suddenly exclaimed with excitement at the sight of another of the families giving out food, before she rushed over to get some, "I'LL BRING YOU BACK SOME! BYE!"

Katie just kept her dead-eyed glare for a few seconds after Mako had left, before she released a long sigh, her eyes falling, and her posture slouching, "Alright, I guess I should go and try to find Nate now…"

"Noko!" Tsuchi hopped around, his eyes directed on Katie's right hand, which still held her mostly eaten burger. The snake yo-kai opened his mouth wide, trying to snatch the burger out of the human girl's hand, but she kept, unknowingly, moving it out of his reach before he could, "NOKO!" he headbutted her leg.

"OW! I'M GONNA LOOK FOR NATE, ALRIGHT!?" Katie shouted, before she brought the remains of her burger up to her eye-level, "Right after I finish this burger…"

'_Finish this burger… Finish this burger… Finish this burger…_' the human girl's words echoed in the snake yo-kai's mind, over and over, as his pupils shrank, and his expression became one of horror.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as Katie moved to consume the last bite of her burger.

Tsuchi began leaping forward, also in slow motion, "_Noooooooooooooooookooooooooooo!_"

Katie finished the last of her burger in a single bite, and Tsuchi bumped face-first into her shoe…

The human girl finished chewing and swallowing, letting out a small belch, before she looked down at the yo-kai blankly, "Tsuchi… what are you doing? I just said; I'll look for Nate after I finish my burger, that didn't take long, now did it?"

"No… Noko…" Tsuchi sniffled, looking up at the sky, where he saw a transparent image of a burger, with wings and a halo, fluttering away… "NOKO!" the snake yo-kai suddenly leapt forward, and onto Katie's head.

"GAH, WHAT THE!?" the girl cried out in shock and anger, just before the snake sprung right off her head.

"NOKO!" Tsuchi opened his mouth wide, intend on eating the imaginary flying food right out of the sky, but it quickly faded from his view, "Noko…?" and he lost his focus, and came falling back to the ground, "NOKO!"

*CRASH!*

Katie glared at the reptile yo-kai, who's head was now buried in the sand, "You are such a confusing little monster…"

Walking over to the fallen snake, Katie pulled him out of the sand by the tail, before setting him back down, where he then proceeded to spit out a lot of sand.

"Noko-blah!" the yellow scaled yo-kai stuck out his tongue in disgust, once he had finished spitting out all the tiny stones.

Katie dully stared at the snake for a few more seconds, before she grunted, crossing her arms and glaring forward, "Okay, let's go find Nate already, but if I'm a bit short with him when we do, know that it's because of you!"

"KATIE!" Meg suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere, charging at the other girl, and glaring at her with fiery eyes, "DID I JUST HEAR YOU WERE GONNA LOOK FOR MY NATEY-KINS!?"

Katie jumped back in surprise at the pigtailed girl's sudden appearance, giving her a look of disbelief, as she took some steps back, "What? Yeah, I– "

"NO!" Meg shouted, holding up a finger as she glared at Katie, "I'm tired of all you other girls trying to take _my_ Natey-kins!"

"But Meg, I'm not– "Katie tried to reason, but it failed.

"I won't stand for it! I'm gonna find Natey-kins, ME!" Meg's eyes briefly turned to hearts as she thought about 'her Natey-kins,' before she glared at Katie again, and raised her finger again, "DON'T GET IN THE WAY!"

And, just as quickly as she appeared, Megan Jones ran off, presumedly to try and locate 'her Natey-kins.'

Katie just stared after the aspiring popstar with blank eyes, "When _exactly_ did the world go _insane_…!?"

"Noko…" Tsuchi was mostly paying attention to the small figure, unseen to most aside from himself, following after the departing Megan.

"You're right, Tsuchi, it's not important right now," Katie shook her head, lightly slapping her cheeks a few times, before she gave a determined look, "It's time to find Nate, and finally put an end to this tension!"

"Noko?" Tsuchi looked up at Katie with a blink of his eyes, before he nodded in agreement, hopping a couple times, "Noko! Noko!"

So, Katie and Tsuchi started walking forward, beginning their epic search for Nathan Adams…

"Looking for Nate? I can help!"

Katie could swear she heard the sound of a record scratching at that very moment, before she turned to see a purple-haired bespectacled, vaguely familiar, girl, smiling at her.

"He there! I don't believe we've formally met; my name's Hailey, Hailey Anne Thomas!" the purple-haired girl did an imitation 'Sailor Cuties' pose, to emphasize her introduction.

Katie's first thoughts on this girl, considering she was offering to help look for Nate? '_Another obsessed harem-girl…_' "Uh-huh…" Katie gave a disinterested look, "That's nice…" the brown-haired girl shook her head, "Look I'm kind of busy right now, can I talk to you later?"

"Busy with what? Looking for Nate, or dealing with that little hopping snake following you around?" Hailey questioned in a blunt tone, chuckling a bit to herself when she noticed how the other girl froze in her stride. "That got your attention, didn't it?"

Katie slowly turned to the other girl, an emotionless expression on her face, "_What_ do you know…?"

Hailey released another chuckle as she walked by the brunette, motioning for her to follow, "Come on, let's walk and talk! On the way, we may find Nate!" 'And maybe, I can figure out why you seem to be immune to our resident harem protagonist's 'Harem Effect,' Miss. Forester

* * *

"Dang, where are they!?" Damona growled to herself, trying to locate where on the beach her family had set up, "Stupid confusing human beach… though, also; stupid confusing dad-directions!" the disguised princess growled as she pulled out the piece of paper that was supposed to direct her to where her father and sister would be on the beach, "… Hold on, is this Falsina's handwriting!?"

"Nate!?"

"Son, where are you!?"

Damona paused in her thoughts of possible sisterly-deception, taking notice of her fiancé's parents, walking around, calling for their child.

"I don't understand, where is he…?" Lily frowned worriedly.

"I'm sure he just got caught up in the crowds, Honey," Aaron tried to assure, though he seemed unsure himself.

"Jessica said she saw him walking in this direction, but I can't see him anywhere..." Lily tried to keep her emotions under control, but any instance of her only child being lost brought up some bad memories for her…

Damona watched her future-in-laws from a good distance, she narrowed her eyes, and removed the leaf from her head, reverting to her true form, and becoming invisible to them once more, before she started trailing them…

* * *

The 'villain-search' Nate had been dragged into with Tempest Pride (by their leader) had been rather uneventful; most leads they came across didn't lead to anything, or led to a yo-kai who clearly had nothing to do with the robbery.

Eventually Little Charrmer had suggested they split into teams; The Jawsome Kid with Unbearaboy!, Dr. E. Raser with Double Time, and (of course); herself with Nate.

There still wasn't much sign of anything concrete, and Little Charrmer's various attempts to impress Nate had only slowed them down.

At this point, the human boy was just sitting on the roof of a building Little Charrmer had decided to take a break on.

"We've been at this for hours…" Nate muttered to himself, "I've really got to get back. I never even got to talk to Katie, how am I supposed to explain this to mom…?"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Little Charrmer questioned as she landed beside her 'sidekick,' a little smile on her face, "You seem kind of down? Is it because we haven't found any signs of the villains yet?" she let out a bit of a chuckle, "Hey, don't worry about that! We'll get 'em, and if not today, we'll just have to try again tomorrow!"

Nate shook his head, giving an annoyed look towards the red-lad heroine, "Little Charrmer, is there really even a 'villain!?'"

The leader of Tempest Pride seemed shocked by this sudden question, standing up straight with widening eyes, "W-What!? Of course there is!" she stood proudly, looking up at the sky, "I am a true yo-kai hero, sworn to keep the peace and defend the weak! I would never lie about there being a threat!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen any signs of one," Nate grunted, pulling himself up from his sitting position, and dusting his clothing off, "And even if there is one, I keep telling you; I'm _not_ hero-material! I just would like to go back to the beach before I get into any more trouble than I already most likely am!"

Little Charrmer flinched at her crush's tone of voice, before she started waving her hands, trying to stop him from leaving, "H-Hold on, Nate! I'm telling you, there _is_ a villain somewhere in Springdale, and we need _your _help to deal with them!"

"Why!?" Nate snapped, turning to glare at the humanoid yo-kai again, "_Why_ do you, specifically, need _my_ help!? _WHY_ am I so important for helping _you_; a _superhero!?_"

Little Charrmer looked unsure of how to answer this, "Uh, because…"

"And _why_ do all the yo-kai related problems in this town, seem to always drag _me_ into them!?" Nate snarled, a red aura starting to form around him, "I'm an _ordinary_,_ human_ kid! Not some 'Yo-kai Master,' not some 'harem protagonist,' or 'hero,' not _anything_ like that! I don't understand why I can't be left alone, and not be dragged into some yo-kai problem, or be fought over by girls, for _ONE DAY_!"

"Um…" Little Charrmer was at loss for words, starting to get a bit intimidated by the boy's building rage.

"So, could you kindly, just; GET ME _DOWN_ FROM THIS ROOF, AND RETURN ME TO THE BEACH, AND JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, _PLEASE_!?" Nate shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes glowing red as the aura around him took on an overwhelming presence, seemingly outside of his notice.

Little Charrmer fell onto her bottom with a shocked look on her face, just staring at Nate with an unreadable expression, "I, uh… Nate, I…" she was at a loss for words…

"_Boss, can you hear me!?_"

The sound of Dr. E. Raser's voice coming from the communicator snapped both Nate and Little Charrmer out of the immediate moment of tension, with the hero team leader quickly getting back to her feet and pulling the communicator to her mouth.

"I hear you loud and clear, Dr. E! What's the situation!?"

Nate still felt frustrated towards the current situation, but his concern overwhelmed that frustration, with him moving closer to the fiery heroine, to listen to what the other hero had to say.

"_We ran into someone, we think he might be the culprit, but we need help! He's… so strong, he froze Double Time, and–_ " Dr. E. Raser grunted on the other hand, some sounds of a struggle on the other end, "_Get over to the delivery bay, over by Sunset Mall!_" after that, the communication cut out.

Clutching the communicator in a determined fist, Little Charrmer stood up straight as her eyes narrowed, "We got to get over there!" she looked to the boy, her eyes unchanging, "I'll let you down if you want to be done with this, Nate, but you've got to walk back to the beach on your own!"

Finding himself looking at the leader of Tempest Pride with newfound respect, Nate shook his head, "N-No, I'll come with you… I'll help!"

A bit of a pleased smile made its way onto the red-clad hero's face at the boy's reaction, before her expression turned back to the cold serious look as she pulled up the communicator and contacted the other team, "Jawsome, Unbearaboy!, head over to the delivery bay, by Sunset Mall! We've got a live one, boys! Let's reel 'em in!"

* * *

Flying down with Nate in her arms, Little Charmer landed by the delivery bay, setting the boy down.

At the same time, The Jawsome Kid came charging in, Unbearaboy! riding on his shoulder, before hopping off when they met up with their leader.

As soon as they made their stop, the four became aware of the chilling air that permeated through the area, there were even a few snowflakes falling to the ground, which had a notable layer of frost over it.

"Brrr," Little Charrmer shivered a bit, pulling Nate closer to her, before the flame on her tail started to grow, warming the air around them.

"Yo, why'd da' boss only bring him for a warm hug?" Unbearaboy! questioned as he shivered a bit.

"Let's not question that right now," The Jawsome Kid grunted, before he started sniffing the air, "We need to find Dr. E. Raser, and Double Time, and whoever it is who attacked them!"

"Uh, Little Charrmer…" Nate muttered after a bit of the yo-kai girl hugging him, "I-I'm warm now, it's fine!" Nate averted his eyes, and burning face, from the girl hugging him, when he spotted something that had his eyes widening, "G-Guys, look!"

The three yo-kai heroes looked in the direction the boy was, with Little Charrmer reluctantly releasing her hold, before their expressions turned similar to the human boy's.

"D-Dudes!?" Unbearaboy! gawked in horror, at the two large blocks of ice, that Dr. E. Raser, and Double Time, were trapped in…

"I know Dr. E said frozen, but…" Little Charrmer shook her head, giving a determined glare, before she charged toward the frozen blocks with a flaming kick.

*CRASH!*

With burst of ice chunks, water, and steam, the two yo-kai heroes were freed from their icy prison, falling onto the ground, gasping.

"AH!Thatwashorrible!" Double Time rapidly choked out, pulling himself up from the ground, before he started jogging in place, as usual.

"Little Charrmer," Dr. E. Raser coughed as he floated back into an upright position, his eyes looking tired and dull, but still, he managed to smile, "Took you long enough…" though just as he finished speaking, his eyes widening with horror, and his smile being destroyed by a urgent shout, "Behind you!"

The other members of Tempest Pride, as well as Nate, didn't have a moment to process the warning, as they started to feel a rush of cold air moving in from behind them…

"Hmph, seems you've noticed me; a shame," a male voice nearly as cold as the surrounding air sounded, the sounds of footsteps approaching closer and closer, "I was hoping to make a clean getaway without any notice, but father would be so disappointed if I went and left any _loose ends_…"

Whirling around as one, the group found themselves faced with the approach of an unfamiliar, humanoid yo-kai.

Footsteps on the concrete ground caused a spread of frost that froze it over, but the new yo-kai showed no signs of losing his balance. He resembled a human with cat-like features, including white and blue fur covering his body, paw-like hands, one of which held a strange book with an eye on the cover, his feet also took the form of bare paws.

A tail was visible sprouting from the humanoid's back, tipped with a purple flame. He wore a black bodysuit underneath a dark purple coat, which had several light-purple tiger-style stripes on it. He had a golden around his neck, with a blue gem on it. Several areas of his fur had dark blue tiger-like stripes, most notably the spiky hair on his head.

Though, perhaps one of the most notable, and chilling, physical traits of this yo-kai were his eyes; narrowed with cold calculation, black where you would expect to be white, yellow eyes, dotted with glowing red pupils, which looked like they could look directly into your soul…

"THAT'SHIM!THAT'STHEGUY!" Double Time shouted frantically, pointing at the intruding yo-kai, over and over.

Dr. E. Raser narrowed his eyes as he floated forward, still clearly shaken, but trying not to show it, "He's one of the culprits, we can't let him escape!"

Little Charrmer's tail-flame visibly flared as she took on a battle-ready stance, glaring fiercely at the approaching 'villain,' "Alright, evil-doer! If you think I'm going to let you get away with– "

Within the blink of an eye, the cat-like culprit was right in Little Charrmer's face, ready to strike down with a clawed hand.

"Boss-lady!" Unbearaboy! called out with concern, ready to jump in and help, but The Jawsome Kid held him back.

The cat-man slammed down his clawed hand, but Little Charrmer was gone, "What…?"

"Up here, frosty!"

The cat-man looked up, only to be knocked back by a sudden kick to the face from the red-clad heroine.

Nate moved his hand to his yo-kai watch, an unsure and worried look on his face, but the bulky arm of The Jawsome Kid moved in front of him, motioning for him to stop.

"Not yet," the shark-man said in a serious tone, his narrowed eyes focused on his leader, "The boss can handle herself."

Nate still seemed unsure, but slowly lowered his arms, nodding, watching the ensuing battle with worried eyes, with occasionally giving a strange look to the cat-like yo-kai villain. '_He… looks kind of familiar?_'

The culprit growled as he pulled himself back to his feet, rubbing the cheek that had been hit by the hero's kick, "I really didn't want to cause a big commotion, just wanted to cover our tracks, but you all have stepped into something you don't fully understand!" he stood battle ready again, the chilly air that emitted from him bursting out in full force, becoming a mini blizzard.

Little Charrmer stood battle ready, an aura of heat emitting from her.

The enemy kept walking forward, though, before the battle could continue, something caught his attention, that had he completely halting in his approach, "Wait a minute…?" the cat-like yo-kai stared at Nate, a look of recognition appearing in his eyes, "Brother…?"

Nate took a step back at the intimidating yo-kai staring at him, but paused, giving a look of confusion at what he had just referred to him as, "W-What…? I'm not your…" Nate's voice halted as he kept looking at the humanoid cat yo-kai, a feeling of familiarity overwhelming him the longer he did so…

* * *

"_You look after my little sister, okay?" the older cat-boy laughed as he ruffled Nate's hair, while Kirene hugged his arm._

* * *

"_From now on, you're one of us; an honorary Bundory!" the cat-boy gave a kind smile as he looked down at the human boy._

* * *

"_You can just call me 'Big Brother Dandory,' alright?" the cat-boy smiled as he kneeled to the young boy's level, offering a fist-bump._

"… _Alright, big brother," Nate smiled back, shyly, before he timidly returned the fist-bump._

* * *

Nate kept staring at the cat-like yo-kai with a blank expression, processing all the memories going through his head, "B-Big Brother Dandory…?"

**Brave Tribe: Dandory Bundory**

"Wait, what?" Unbearaboy! looked at Nate questioningly.

"Nate, this guy's your _brother_!?" Little Charrmer shouted with a look of pure disbelief.

"That can't possibly be right!" The Jawsome Kid exclaimed in an incredulous tone.

"N-No, he's not _actually_ my brother, he…" Nate put a hand to his face while shaking his head, before he turned his focus back to the cat-like yo-kai, "Dandory, what's going on here…? Where… where have you been? Is Kirene with you?" the boy's expression took on a slightly pained look as he asked his next question, "Did… did you rob the museum!?"

The members of Tempest Pride looked ready to start fighting again at a moment's notice.

"I…" Dandory looked unsure of what to say, but he quickly shook his head, regaining his serious expression, "Sorry, Brother, but I can't say anything else, I'm just here to cover our tracks, and these yo-kai 'heroes' are getting in the way of that…"

"Brother or not, kid, I don't think dis guy is gonna be reasonable!" Unbearaboy! growled, holding his fists up.

"Remember, I've got this," Little Charrmer held out her hand, motioning for the blue-skinned humanoid to step back, as she glared at Dandory. "Now I know who you are, you're Dandory Bundory, aren't you!?"

Dandory didn't answer that question, but his glare increased a bit.

"I should have figured!" Little Charrmer sneered, before she glanced back at the human boy, "Nate, you can't trust this guy! The Bundory family put the 'burglar' in cat-burglar… also the 'cat,' depending on how you look at it!"

"But…" Nate looked conflicted, quickly looking between the yo-kai heroes, and the apparent 'villian,' who he had just realized he had close ties with (and _many_ questions to ask…)

"Dandory, what is this!?" a female voice from on the roof shouted.

Dandory froze, before he looked up at the roof urgently, "Kirene, what are you doing here!? I told you; I have things here covered!"

Nate's eyes widened at the name he just heard spoken, "Kirene…?"

The female cat-humanoid yo-kai standing on the roof glanced down, her unseen eyes widening and her jaw dropping at the sight of the human, "N-Nate…?"

**Charming Tribe: Kirene Bundory**

Everyone else seemed to just be standing in surprise and awe, as Kirene jumped down from the roof, and she and Nate stared at each other, while slowly approaching one another.

… Everyone aside from Little Charrmer, that is, who looked like she was about to go rabid, but was restrained by her team from taking any rash actions.

Dandory watched with a slight look of awe as the two old friends came face-to-face after years of being apart…

"K-Kirene, is… is it really you…?" Nate questioned unsurely.

"Y-Yeah…" Kirene nodded slowly, a slight tint of red appearing on her cheeks, "Is… is it you? My Nate…?"

"Yeah, I… I think so," Nate wasn't sure why, but he started to feel his cheeks grow warm at that moment…

"I'm… I'm sorry, Nate…" Kirene suddenly said, a trembling frown on her face.

Nate seemed surprised by this, moving closer to the cat-girl to comfort her, "Sorry, for what?"

Little Charrmer growled madly but was still held back by her team.

"I left, I'm sorry I left Nate…" Kirene muttered sadly, taking hold of one of his hands, "I left, it was for an important reason, but… I haven't forgotten our promise! Know that, it was never my intention to break it, but the situation…" the female yo-kai trailed off, looking unsure of how exactly to explain herself.

"What promise…?" Nate questioned with a naive blink.

And, everything seemed to freeze…

Kirene stared at the boy with a blank expression, before she suddenly started chuckling, "Ah-hehehe, that's a good one Nate! _As if_ you would forget our promise!"

"W-What…?" Nate scratched his head, looking confused by the girl's reaction, "I'm confused, what are you talking about…?"

Kirene twitched, staring at the boy intensely, though her unseen eyes making her emotions hard to determine, "You… you're serious… you really _don't remember!?_"

"Nate, you really should be careful of what you say next!" Dandory suddenly spoke up, a look of concern etched on his face as his eyes darted between the human boy, and his younger sister.

"What…?" Nate rose an eyebrow at the older brother's warning, before he faced Kirene again and gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Kirene; my memories of our time together are a bit fuzzy, actually…" he gave an awkward, embarrassed chuckle, "I thought my memories of you were just a dream I used to have when I was younger, for a while… I-I'm glad you're real, of course! I just, can't really remember what this promise you're talking about is…" Nate tried to give a more friendly smile again, but paused in concern when he noted how his old friend seemed to be trembling, "K-Kirene…?"

"Oh dear…" Dandory shook his head.

"What? What's goin' on?" Unbearaboy! questioned with a confused expression.

"Y-You…. _Forgot_…!?" Kirene started breathing heavily, a single glowing eye sparking from underneath her bangs, "_I-I hate you…_"

Nate's eyes widened, before he gave a nervous chuckle, "I-I'm sorry, I think I misheard you just now; w-what was that, Kirene…?"

Kirene's expression turned into a vicious snarl, showing off her fangs, "I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" sparks of electricity started to dance off the cat-girl's fur, as she dropped her whip in favor of holding up her clawed hands in a threatening stance.

* * *

Back at the beach, the party was still going strong, though a good number of girls were searching for the missing Nate, but the attention of most was caught by the strange lightning that seemed to be shooting out from an area in the distance, in the direction of Sunset Mall…

* * *

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Kirene raged as lightning struck forth from her body.

Nate narrowly dodged, but a hit from Kirene's electric whip had him falling to his knees, "GAH!?"

"Nate!" Little Charrmer tried to fly over to get to Nate, but a sudden strike of lightning sent him stumbling down.

"I hate you, I hate you, I… love you…" Kirene mumbled to herself as lightning kept sparking, before she noticed how Nate was on the ground, losing consciousness, her expression immediately turned to one of regret, "O-Oh no, Nate! I-I'm sorry, please be okay!"

"Kirene, come on! We have to return to the hideout!" Dandory insisted, grabbing his sister by the shoulder, stopping her from running over to Nate, "Father isn't going to be happy about any of this!"

Kirene growled, but seeing how hectic things were getting, she knew that her brother was right, "Fine, just let me grab something… important, before we go," as the cat-girl said that, she turned her focus to the groaning boy on the ground.

"We won't let you– "The Jawsome Kid started to charge forward, but he, and the other members of Tempest Pride, aside from the paralyzed Little Charrmer, were flash-frozen by Dandory.

"Come on, that won't hold all of them for long!" the older brother stated urgently.

"Nate!" Lily shouted as she came running in, followed by Aaron and Damona.

"What in the…?" Aaron just stared in shock at the two cat-like humanoids.

Lily, however, didn't show any signs of freaking out; her motherly instincts had taken over, "**LET GO OF MY BABY, RIGHT NOW!**" the woman raged as an aura of demonic energy erupted from her body.

"I'll get him!" Damona suddenly spoke, floating forward and making herself visible to the parents, surprising them.

"What the, who!?" Lily questioned loudly, though still keeping her main focus on Nate.

Damona just smiled to the woman as she floated forward, before she turned back to the opponent, and dark energy starting to swirl around her form, "SHINY CHAOS!"

The Bundorys saw the incoming attack and were swift enough to dodge it, leaping up onto a nearby roof.

"Sorry, mother-in-law, but you'll be sure to get an invite to the wedding!" Kirene called out to the, still raging, Lily. The cat-girl adjusted the boy slung over her shoulder, making sure he was stable.

"Eh… mommy…?" Nate muttered in his dazed state, hearing his mother's shouts.

"Don't mind that now, love, your mother is fine," Kirene assured, patting the boy's hand in a soothing way.

"We need to get moving! I can hear more coming, and the heroes are already recovering!" Dandory reminded.

Kirene nodded to her brother, as they quickly continued in their escape.

"K-Kirene…?" the boy questioned, still completely out of it.

"That's right, Nate, it's me; your _best friend_," the cat-girl assured, her soothing tone taking on a slightly more sinister inflection.

"Oh yeah…" Nate nodded in acceptance before he started drifting off again. '_Kirene… my best… friend…_' Nate repeated that in his mind several times as he faded into unconsciousness…

* * *

"_Camping…?" the little four-year-old boy timidly questioned his smiling mother, while he sat on his bed, clutching onto a plush toy made in the image of a little blue cat, with a red cape, as if it were a superhero._

"_That's right, Nathan, we're going camping," the dark-haired women cheerfully confirmed, "Up on the mountain! Doesn't that sound like fun?"_

_Nathan just whimpered in response to his mother's enthusiasm, hugging his toy close, and pulling his blanket over his head._

_Lily gave a small sigh at her son's reaction, before she sat on the bed, next to the blanket-covered lump that was her son, "Come on, Honey, I promise; you'll have fun."_

_A few muffled, whimpering sounds emitted from the lump as it wiggled a bit._

"_Nathan, I know you're a big boy now; that's why I know you're ready to go camping," the mother assured, putting a hand on the covers which concealed her fearful child, "You might even make a few friends."_

"_F-Friends…?" Nate pulled his head out from the covers, sniffling a bit, his eyes big and hopeful, "R-Real, friends…?"_

"_Yes, there will be lots of other kids your own age there," Lily's smile widened seeing that her little boy was becoming interested._

_Nate scooted free of his blanket, allowing himself to be seated in his mother's lap, "But… what if I get lost…?" he shivered, clutching his cat plushie tightly again, "What if I can't find you or daddy…?"_

_The mother hugged her child tightly, placing a comforting kiss on his forehead, "Don't worry, Sweetie, mommy and daddy will be keeping a close eye on you the whole time. And even if you do somehow get lost, remember; find the trail, that will lead you back to camp!"_

"_Find the trail…" Nate nodded to himself as he hugged his mommy for ease of mind, before he returned his focus to more positive prospects, "But; you really, really think… I'll make friends…?"_

"_Nate, I'd be surprised if you didn't make a very best friend on your first day on the trip," Lily chuckled, ruffling her son's hair, causing the little boy to release a few giggles._

* * *

Alright, done! Finally!

This chapter was going to be longer, with a lot more interactions between the different classmates and stuff, but it was already running really long, and I wanted to get it done this month, so I ended up moving some of those subplots to future chapters.

Also, in case it wasn't clear; Neko-Musume will not be part of Nate's Harem, her crush on Kitaro makes her immune. Mana will be in Nate's harem, though.

Why I used the 2018 design for Neko-Musume, when she uses a different one in Yo-kai Watch Shadowside/Puni Puni? I felt like it, and because I'm using Mana. The other members of the 'Kitaro Family' will use their 2018 anime designs too.

Speaking of crossovers, I'm sure some noticed that I just randomly had Mako from Kill la Kill as one of the Class 5-3 students, and are wondering why that is. There's a couple of reasons.

1; I decided a while ago I was going to use 'crossover characters' to fill in areas I would need to create OCs for anyway. Though it's less a crossover, and more taking the character concept, and reworking it to fit into the Yo-kai Watch world, so they're a bit more like OCs based on characters from other series, rather than actual crossover characters.

Anyway, between doing this, or just creating OCs; it would make no difference from the perspective of someone who doesn't know the 'crossover characters' I'm using, and for those who do, it makes a fun little bonus.

They're also bound to be infinitely more interesting than any OC I could throw together.

Though in some cases I will end up making actual OCs, like with Jessica's parents, but that will mostly be a thing with unseen parents, unless I found a character in something else who would really fit as someone's parent.

Anyway, reason 2 for why Kill la Kill of all things; simple, my friend amf studios asked me if I could, and I didn't see any issue with it.

There will be more 'crossover characters' to come, some that will fit better with Yo-kai Watch, which is good; because the more they already fit with Yo-kai Watch, the less I have to change them. Class 5-3 will have a good deal of them.

Also, before anyone asks; yes, Ryuko will appear eventually, she will have Senketsu (he'll be a yo-kai), and there will **not** be the same sort of transformation that is present in the source anime (since she'll be _eleven_ here.)

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;'

"_Hi, I'm Nate!"_

"_Um, hi, Nate…? How can you see me?"_

"_Why wouldn't I be able to see you…?"_

"_I, uh…"_

"_Hey, want to be friends?"_

"_Friends…? You want to be friends with a yo-kai…?"_

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **Remember Me!**


	13. Remember Me!

**Chapter 13: Remember Me!**

* * *

The four-year-old Nathan Adams sat on his bed, anxiously watching his mom and dad as they went through his closet to pack extra clothing, for the dreaded camping trip…

At that thought, the little boy clutched his stuffed cat closer, whimpering, but trying to hold back his fear; the promise of making friends on this camping trip had Nate wanting to go, even if he was still filled with fear over the idea.

"Aw, you still scared, champ?" the young boy's father questioned in a gentle tone, walking over to the bed and looking over his child.

Nate whimpered, clutching the caped cat plushie–a gift from his father, which had comforted the boy since he was an infant–anxious thoughts filling him, despite the love he could feel emitting from his father, "W-What if nobody likes me…? What if they think I'm…_ weird_…?"

This comment had both the boy's parents looking towards him with small frowns; Nate could feel the sympathy and worry pouring off them, which made him flinch in response, he never wanted to upset his parents.

"Oh, sweetie, nobody will think you're weird," Lily assured as she sat on the boy's other side, petting his head.

"Are you sure…?" Nathan whimpered; despite his mother's assuring smile, he could still feel the unease emitting from her...

However, those unsure emotions were soon overwhelmed by positive ones filled with love, as the mother and father both smiled brightly at their child, and Lily brought her son into her lap and hugged him tightly.

"You'll have a great time, I'm sure," Lily spoke with conviction, affectionately kissing her child on the forehead.

"Yeah, don't worry Nathan, I know you'll make a ton of friends!" Aaron chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair a bit.

Nate could sense his parent's feelings of excitement, though there was something else; they were trying to hide it, but Nate could tell, there was still worry at the edge of their moods. The boy didn't show he knew this, just smiling back to his parents.

Nathan was worried too, but he would try, maybe camping would be fun, maybe he would be able to make friends…

* * *

It wasn't long before the family was off to the campsite, though Nathan would get a bit more reassurance on the idea of camping on the way up Mt. Wildwood, he still felt insecure about the whole thing, anxiously awaiting what other kids he would see at the campsite.

Lily continued to hold onto her son's hand tightly as they made their way passed the shrine and to where the campsite was set up.

Nathan could see several tents set up around a large, unlit campfire, there were some grownups discussing things, and he could see a few older kids talking to each other, as well as a few around the same age as him; some with eagerness and excitement rolling off them like radiant waves of sunshine, while others clearly had clouds of nervousness, much like his own, emitting from them.

"Nathan, why don't you go see some of the other kids?" Lily offered, kneeling to look her son in the eye.

The small boy suddenly felt a wave of terror envelope him, and he clung tightly to his mother, whimpering and sniffling.

The emotions of his mother were soothing to the boy; many people's emotions were scary for Nathan, even the positive ones, but his parents' were almost always comforting, which is part of the reason Nathan hated to leave their sides.

The fact that many kids he had interacted with in the past had labelled him as a 'freak' didn't help much either, though the emotions of those that had done so were often that of nervousness, or fear, it felt horrible for Nathan, and soured the idea of interacting with others his age.

Even if he did really, _really_ want friends…

"Sweetie, it'll be fine, I promise," the mother soothed, stroking her son's hair, "Mommy and Daddy will be right nearby, you don't need to be scared."

Aaron gave his child a smile from his position beside his wife.

Hearing words, seeing smiles, and feeling of encouragement from his parents, Nathan took a big breath, before he nodded, and allowed his mother to separate from him.

Nathan nervously shuffled over seeing a couple kids his age, talking to each other about something they seemed excited about.

"The hero was so cool on the last episode!" a light-skinned boy with short black hair, eyes, and a blue shirt exclaimed eagerly to his friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Andy, the monster was the coolest part!" the tan-skinned boy with darkish blond-hair responded with a grunt, crossing his arms stubbornly.

The black-haired boy seemed appalled by this sentiment, "What!? How could you think that!? The monster was the bad guy!"

"The monster was just minding its own business, the people disturbed him, and that started all the problems," the tan boy stated firmly.

Nathan stared at the other boys, they seemed to be the same age as him, and despite their arguing, he could feel mostly enthusiasm from them, taking a deep breath, the brunette boy started to approach.

"I'm telling you– "Andy was continuing to argue, when both he and the other boy noticed Nathan walking up, "Uh… hi? You want something?"

Suddenly feeling a wave of confusion and slight annoyance from the two boys, Nathan quickly reeled back, "S-Sorry!" he squeaked, confusing the other boys as he sped around and fled, but was cut short when he bumped into another kid. "Ah!?"

"Wah!?" a girl around the same age as Nathan, with blue eyes, and darkish pink hair, gave a frightened yelp as she fell to the ground alongside the boy.

Nate went wide-eyed, shaking with terror, but he quickly got back to his feet and reached out for the girl, "Oh no, sorry! Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine…" she cautiously took the boy's hand, allowing him to help her back to her feet, before she quickly looked away with a bashful look, "T-Thank you, I-I'm, M-Mary-Lou," the pink-haired girl spoke with a slight southern accent.

Her tone reflected the feelings of fright and anxiety Nathan could feel emitting from her, but there was something else too, though nearly concealed by all her fears and doubts; a genuine desire to make friends.

Swallowing his own nerves, Nathan gave the friendliest smile he could, and waved his hand, "Hi Mary-Lou, I'm Nathan Adams!"

Mary-Lou nervously smiled back at the boy, "Nice t-to meet you, uh…" she glanced to the ground, poking her fingers together a few times, "You, uh… like camping?"

Nathan's smile faded a bit, "This is actually my first time, I'm… not so sure about it yet…" he gulped a bit, glancing around at the trees around the campsite.

"H-Hey, don't worry," Mary-Lou quickly tried to assure, trying her best to keep a smile, despite her own nerves, "I've been camping a few times, and it can be scary, b-but it's also fun!"

Sensing the genuine feelings of joy coming off the pink-haired girl, Nathan's fear dropped a bit, "R-Really…?"

"Yay!" Mary-Lou's own fear seemed to be fading as she eagerly nodded, her cheeks taking on a pink tint. "There's all sorts of fun things to do while camping! We get to do arts and crafts, go out hiking, catch bugs, fish, tell campfire stories, roast marshmallows, and there's lots more!"

"Huh, I guess that doesn't sound so bad…" Nathan glanced down thoughtfully, thinking over the girl's words.

"And if that doesn't do it for you, we can always look for ghosts!" a black haired girl, with glasses on, exclaimed as she popped up right next to Nathan, startling both him and Mary-Lou.

"What!?" the brunette boy whimpered, taking a couple steps back from the frighteningly eager girl.

"T-There are n-no ghosts, Zoey," Mary-Lou tried to insist, but didn't sound so sure of herself.

"Of course there are!" Zoey gave a wide, and slightly crooked, smile, before she looked at Nathan pointedly, "Who's this guy anyway?"

"I-I'm Nathan," the boy answered in a small voice, averting his eyes from the scary girl.

"Nathan…?" Zoey blinked, before giving a wide smile, "Can I call you Nate? I think that sounds better!"

"Huh…?" Nathan looked back with surprise at the sudden request, he had been called 'Nate' before, of course, but nobody had ever really _asked _him if they could call him that, "I-I guess so."

"Alright!" the dark-haired girl let out a cheer, before she suddenly wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder and pulled him close.

"Ah!?" Nathan gasped in surprise, though the genuine friendliness rolling off Zoey helped to ease him a bit.

"I can tell this is gonna be the start of something special, Nate!" Zoey chuckled, releasing the boy, and patting him on the shoulder, "I can tell; we're gonna be best friends from now on!"

"F-Friends…?" Nate's eyes widened slightly at the words Zoey had spoken, "You… want to be friends with me…?" the boy couldn't sense any deceit from the girl, just pure genuine friendliness, but he still couldn't help being wary.

"Of course I do," Zoey smirked, grabbing Nate's hand and shaking it quickly, "I can tell just by looking at you; we're gonna be the best friends ever! I can feel it!"

The brown-haired child was finding himself shaking slightly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by this girl's eager friendliness, and how much she seemed to be absolutely serious about them becoming 'best friends…'

"M-Me too!" Mary-Lou interjected, reminding the other two of her presence, "I w-want to be friends with you t-too, N-Nate!" she suddenly let out a fearful squeak, looking away nervously, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't ask if it was o-okay for me to call you 'N-Nate…'"

Nate's nervousness was fading, starting to feel a sense of levity in how he was talking to the two girls without much issue, he released a little giggle, smiling at the pink-haired girl, "I-It's okay, Mary-Lou, you can call me Nate!" there was a bit of nervousness remaining in the boy's voice, but it was lessening as he spoke. "And, um; how about I call you 'May…?' I-I mean, if you're okay with that!" a new wave of nervousness suddenly erupted in the boy at that moment, worried he may have overstepped.

However, the effect Nate's suggestion had on Mary-Lou was the opposite of what was expected, her own nervousness seemingly fading as her smile turned a bit more relaxed, though her face did redden a bit more, "I actually would l-like that, y-yeah, you can call me 'May!'" the girl let out a cheerful giggle after that exclamation.

Zoey let out an exclamation of excitement, before she put a hand on Mary-Lou's shoulder, "Alright, May!"

Mary-Lou yelped before she glared at Zoey, "Not you, only Nate can call me 'May!'"

Zoey gave a huff at Mary-Lou's denial, "Oh, come on! That's not fair! You just met him; I've known you forever!"

"Yeah, and you've never thought to give me a nickname in all that time, so you don't get to use this one!" the pink-haired stuck out her tongue tauntingly.

Zoey snorted, before she looked to the lone boy, "How about a nickname for me, Nate?"

Nate blinked, feeling caught off guard, "Uh… Zo…?"

"I'll take it!" Zoey cheered, before smirking at the other girl, "And _you_ can't use it, Mary!"

"It's not a good nickname anyway," Mary-Lou rolled her eyes with an unimpressed look.

Nate looked at Mary-Lou blankly; her behavior seemed to take a complete one-eighty when she was speaking with Zoey, but the emotions emitting from her hadn't really changed at all.

Despite all confusion and nervousness, Nate let out a good-natured chuckle, his two new friends looking at him questioningly, before they too started chuckling.

"I think this is gonna be a fun camping trip," Zoey grinned, holding up her hand for a high five, to which Nate, and then a reluctant Mary-Lou, complied.

The trio all laughed together, before a whistle sounded, catching the attention of them, as well as the other children, with them all starting to gather in a group, looking towards the adult with the whistle.

The man with the whistle seemed to be going on about the coming camp activities, though Nate kind of stopped paying attention; drifting into his thoughts, trying to keep down how positively giddy he felt that he had made not one, but _two _friends, and the camping had barely even begun!

'_Daddy and Mama were right; camping was a good idea!_' Nathan thought to himself, releasing a little giggle, feeling the excitement and joy of the other children, along with his own, elevating his mood even more.

* * *

Nate had to admit; he was having fun with a lot of the camp activities; pitching tents was hard, but he was really happy when they had gotten them up (even if the grown-ups seemed to do most of the work.) Bug hunting was always fun, and hiking was unexpectedly enjoyable.

Now it was time for a scavenger hunt; Nate, Zo and May had all grouped up a little bit outside the camping spot, as they looked around for the various items they were told to collect.

"Either of you spot any ghosts?" Zoey questioned with a raised brow, "I'm sure there's some kind of presence here, but I can't figure out exactly where…"

"Zoey, please stop talking," Mary-Lou sighed, her head drooping.

"I don't think ghosts were one of the things we were supposed to find," Nathan shivered a bit as he looked away from the two girls, scanning the ground for a pinecone.

Zoey chuckled, shaking her head, "I'm not talking about the scavenger hunt, Nate, I was just thinking; why waste our time looking for rocks and pinecones, when we could be spending it hunting for the paranormal!"

"Stop it, stop it, stop it," Mary-Lou hissed, covering her ears and looking away from the other girl.

"Oh, don't be a baby!" Zoey huffed, before she smirked at the boy, "You agree with me, don't you Nate? Looking for supernatural activity would be way cooler than what the grown-ups want us to look for!"

"But are there really g-ghosts around here?" Nate questioned nervously, "And, if there are, won't they not like us bothering them?"

"There are definitely ghosts, or spirits of some kind, around here!" Zoey insisted, before she paused in consideration to the boy's second question, before she shrugged and smile again, "I'm sure they won't mind if we just ask them a few questions! They might even appreciate the company!"

Nate's fear died down at that comment, looking at the bespectacled girl with a curious expression, '_I hadn't considered that… what if ghosts are just lonely, and want friends? But everyone they try to talk to gets scared and runs away? Oh no, those poor ghosts!_'

"… Nate?" Zoey gave the boy a strange look, seeing that he looked like he was about to cry, "Are you okay…?"

Mary-Lou gave the other girl a quick jab in the ribs.

"Ow!?"

"Look what you've done!" the pink-haired girl snapped, gesturing to the boy, "You broke Nate with your stupid ghost talk!"

"It's not stupid!" Zoey quickly countered.

The two girls glared at each other fiercely, looking ready to break out into a full-blown argument.

"We need to find the ghosts!" Nate suddenly interrupted, bringing the attention back to him.

"Huh!?" Mary-Lou gaped at Nate's declaration.

"Alright, Nate!" Zoey cheered, "I knew you were best friend material the moment I first saw you!"

"We can't leave the ghosts without anyone to talk to, without any friends, it's not right!" Nate continued, looking into the woods with a determined expression, "Being lonely, being without any friends… those ghosts must be so sad!"

Both Zoey and Mary-Lou's expression turned to a unified look of confusion, neither of them having expected that line of logic to be the brunette boy's driving force.

Finally, Mary-Lou let out an annoyed huff, before sending Nate a little smile. "Alright, I don't think I can argue with that. I don't think there will be any ghosts, but if there a-are, and they're lonely, w-we wouldn't want to just l-leave them," the pink-haired girl tried to keep any signs of fear out of her voice, but a bit of it managed to come through.

Plus, Nate could see the sparks of fear encircling May, but he also noted that most of her emotions were consisting of eagerness and desire to help, which brought a smile to his face, "Thanks, May."

* * *

"Ghosts, come out wherever you are!" Nate called out as he wondered through the woods, looking around eagerly, "I just want to be your friend, ghosts!" he looked between different trees, in a stump, and under a rock, but there wasn't any sign of a single ghost.

Nate gave a sigh as he stepped away from the rock her just checked, scratching his hair, "Nothing. Hey, Zo, May, you guys having any luck!?" the boy called out over his shoulder.

Nate's question was only met with silence…

"May, Zo?" the boy questioned again, turning around to try and spot his friends, only to see no one there. "Huh, M-May, Zo!?" he called again, shaking a bit as he looked around again, everything about the woods suddenly seeming a lot scarier.

"W-Wait, where am I!?" Nate questioned, coming to the realization that he had become separated from his friends, with nothing in his immediate vision aside from what seemed like endless stretches of forest. "Mama and Daddy said to follow the path, and I'll get back to the campsite, but… where is the path?" Nate whimpered as he looked around the woods, looking around for the path as he walked between the trees.

"M-Maybe it's this way…?" the child sniffled a bit, hearing sounds of movement around him, putting him even more on edge.

The boy continued to walk around, trying to find the path that would take him back to the campsite, and the comfort of his parents, but he was unaware of that he was continuously walking in circles.

"May, Zo!?" the boy choked out, looking desperately for his friends, "Mama, Daddy!?" he switched over to calling for his parents, hoping that they would hear him, and take him into the safe comfort of their arms.

"Mama… Daddy?" the small boy whimpered, looking around the woods for any sign of his parents, or friends. "Where are you…? Where am I?" the sounds of bats fluttering by startled the boy, causing him to whimper more as tears started to form in his eyes. "M-Mama, Daddy!"

Sounds continued to echo through the rustling trees. Nate resisted the urge to break down and cry as he felt so scared and alone at that moment. Finally, the child could not take it anymore, letting out a cry of fear as he started to run.

The small child ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, hoping he would catch some sign of the path, or campsite, his parents, May, Zo, anyone!

The boy's panicked running and thoughts were suddenly halted, as he crashed into a similarly sized form to his own. "AH!"

"WAH!?"

'_Ah, monster!_' Nate's panicked mind concluded, the boy quivering as he held up his arms to shield himself, however the attack he expected never came, and slowly, the young boy's panic started to die down, and he lowered his arms to get a good look at the 'monster…'

And Nate was surprised when he saw that it wasn't a monster, it was… a girl, around the same age as he was, and just as terrified, holding her arms up and lowering her head in the same way he was, her body shaking as she seemed to be anticipating an attack from some kind of dangerous creature.

There were a couple things 'odd' about her, like how there were cat-ears sticking out of her head, or the tail that could be seen sprouting from her back, but Nate wasn't really focused on any of that at the moment, "W-wait, are you… scared?"

"Huh…?" the cat-like girl lowered her arms, her hair obscuring her eyes as she stared at the other child. "W-Wait are you… a human?" she asked, cautiously inching towards the boy.

"Y-yeah, I am…" Nate nodded, looking over the cat-like girl with both wariness and curiosity. "But… what are you…?"

The girl seemed surprised at his confirmation, before answering the question, "I'm a yo-kai. Are you really a human? How can you see me?"

"See you? Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" Nate questioned innocently. "What's a yo-kai?"

"You don't know what a yo-kai is…?" the girl seemed shocked by this statement, before some sounds in the wilderness startled her, having her give a small yelp as she curled up into a ball. "I-I just want to find my family!"

"Are you lost too?" Nate tried to speak in a calming tone to help the girl, though his own fear showed clearly.

"You too?" the girl questioned. "I don't know what happened, but… I got separated from my family! I'm lost, and scared, and-and-and…" the cat-like girl started to break down into sobs.

"I just want to find my mama and daddy too…" Nate held back a sob of his own, walking over to the girl and giving her a hug.

The yo-kai girl flinched but eased into the boy's embrace after a moment.

"We're both lost… but maybe we could try to find our families together…?" the brown-haired boy offered, separating from the other child and giving a shaky, yet assuring smile. "And we can be friends."

"Friends…? You want to be friends with me?" the girl asked with a confused look.

"Sure, why not?" Nate smiled, holding out his hand. "I'm Nate Adams, it's nice to meet you!"

The yo-kai girl stared at his hand cautiously, before slowly reaching out and gripping it, "I'm Kirene Bundory…" after shaking the boy's hand, Kirene released it, giving an unsure and shy look, "I've… never had a friend before."

"Well… I'm happy to be your first," Nate smiled as widely as he could.

A flash of red crossed Kirene's cheeks, the girl managing a smile of her own.

Nate took hold of Kirene's hand again, "Come on, let's go! I'm sure if we work together, we can find our way!"

Kirene nodded, shaking off her flustered feelings, "Y-Yeah! Let's go!"

And, with that decision to work together to find their way, the two children, one human, one yo-kai, wandered deeper into the woods…

* * *

"So, you really don't know what a yo-kai is…?" Kirene questioned as the two children continued to walk through the woods. "But you can see me?"

"It's not a word I've heard before," Nate explained, jumping a bit at the sound of a snapping twig, but calming when he noticed it was Kirene who had stepped on the twig, "But… there are people, and creatures, that I see sometimes, but nobody else can… whenever I point them out, nobody believes me, or thinks I'm playing pretend," the boy frowned a bit as he remembered how some kids in the past had treated him for 'lying.' "I can't feel anything from them either, so sometimes I wondered if they were even real…"

That comment had Kirene giving a strange look, "'_Feel_' anything from them, what does that mean…?"

At that question, Nate grew a little nervous, wondering if he should say anything or not, and how Kirene would react, but he didn't want to lie to her, "I… can feel things, other people's feelings… I think."

"Huh…?" Kirene stopped in her tracks, giving Nate a confused look.

"It's… I don't know," Nathan shook his head, glancing to the ground fearfully, "When people are happy, mad, sad, scared… I can feel it, it's like… I don't know what it is," he sniffled a bit as he refused to look directly at the yo-kai girl, "I thought it was normal, but… I don't think it is. Mama and Daddy didn't understand any time I tried to ask them about it, and when I tried to tell other kids…"

'_FREAK!'_

The young boy flinched as he tried to shake the unpleasant memories from his head, "I, uh… don't really want to talk about it."

Kirene seemed to pick up on somewhat on the boy's mood, nodding with understanding, beginning to walk forward again, "So… you can't feel yo-kai's feelings, so, you can't feel _my _feelings?"

Nate nodded, looking up again as he picked up the pace, to catch up with Kirene, "Yeah; I can't pick up anything from you like that, it's kind of… nice."

"Nice?" Kirene glanced back at the boy quizzically.

"Feeling other people's emotions is… scary," the human boy admitted, averting his eyes again, "I… don't know how to react sometimes, and I feel like it's something I shouldn't be feeling, because people might want to keep their feelings private, but I don't know how to turn it off…"

"I… guess I can understand that," Kirene muttered thoughtfully; she had to admit, the idea of somebody being able to read her emotions was a bit of an uncomfortable thought, so she supposed it was good that whatever this boy's power was didn't work on her. "Say, how'd you get lost anyway…?"

Nate flinched as he thought back to how he had gotten into this situation, "I was playing with my f-friends, and I think I went too far, and… then I didn't know where I was… what about you?"

"I came to this place with my family, Daddy needed something from here," Kirene muttered a bit as she looked down, "I'm not entirely sure about what all that stuff was, but I decided to go play with my brothers, but I got lost, and then I started getting scared, trying to find my way back."

"And that's when we ran into each other?" Nate concluded, giving the yo-kai girl a sympathetic look.

"Yeah…" Kirene nodded, glancing around unsurely, "We really need to figure out where we are. I heard there may be some dangerous yo-kai around here."

Nate let out a frightened squeak at that prospect, with the two children quickening their pace.

As the duo continued to move, they didn't notice a small pebble that went tumbling down a slope, hitting a larger rock along the way, which went falling into a nearby pond.

The splash sent ripples throughout the water before something peeked out from beneath.

A pair of red eyes glanced up at the two fleeing children, and narrowed, before a large form started to pull itself out from the pond…

* * *

"Do you think we're going the right way…?" Nate questioned warily, looking around at all the trees; everything in these woods was looking the same to the small child at this point.

"I, uh…" Kirene's expression was unsure, and slightly fearful, but she took a deep breath and tried to give the human a confident smile. "I think so, we're probably… probably close."

Nate smiled hopefully at the yo-kai's words, but even without sensing her emotions, he could tell she wasn't being entirely honest.

A sound that came off as similar to water sloshing sounded behind the kids, having them pausing.

"What was that…?" Nate questioned.

"Water?" Kirene questioned, though she had a bit of a skeptical look.

That was when the two children noticed a large shadow, being cast over them by something creeping up behind them.

Fearfully, the Kirene and Nate glanced over their shoulders…

"**You kids shouldn't be out here all on your own!**" the large figure spoke in an intimidating voice, the red eyes that stared down at the kids looking to be glowing with malice.

There was a moment of dead silence after that, as the kids just stared up at the large being, until…

"MONSTER!" Kirene screeched fearfully.

"RUN!" Nate shouted, grabbing hold of Kirene's hand, and speeding away from the large figure.

"**No, wait!**" the 'monster' cried out, pursuing the fleeing children, "**DON'T GO THAT WAY!**"

* * *

"I think he's catching up to us!" Kirene exclaimed as she kept a firm hold on Nate's hand, looking back the way they came for any sign of the frightening pursuer, before looking back at the boy with a face full of fear.

Despite his own fear, Nate tried his best to give a confident smile as the duo came upon a dirt path between the trees, recalling something he was told once, that could possibly reassure the cat-girl, "Don't worry, he won't be able to catch us if we make it back to the campsite! My mama says that scary creatures won't attack you if you're in a big group, and there are lots of grownups there!"

"Really?" Kirene looked a bit hopeful.

That expression of hope was shattered when a sudden roar of rage rumbled through the trees, birds scattering into the sky.

Kirene yelped, clinging to Nate's arm, with both children shaking in fear.

After a moment, Nate shook his head, pushing down his fear. "Come on, we need to move," the young boy insisted, having the girl take his hand again before they started running down the path.

"O-Okay!" she did her best to keep up the pace.

However, as the two children ran, they barely paid any attention to the path they were running on, thus, Kirene did not see the small rock on the path, which ended up sending her tumbling to the ground, "Ah!"

"Kirene!" Nate called out with concern for his fallen companion, stopping in his tracks to help her up.

The sounds of rage got closer, the ground starting to shake as their pursuer got closer.

"Nate, I don't think I can run anymore!" Kirene whimpered as the boy helped her back up. "He's going to catch us; you need to go on your own!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!" the human boy said firmly, refusing to let his new friend go as he got her back onto her feet, he didn't care if they had only just met; Kirene was his friend, and he refused to abandon her.

The rumbling increased, the giant form of the 'monster' bursting from the trees, red eyes zeroing in on the two children.

"Nate!" Kirene shouted with fear as she hugged the boy, while the towering figure slowly approached…

Reaching down, two giant hands grabbed hold of the children and lifted them up, causing them to scream and start wildly struggling.

"Enough already!" the 'monster' shouted, holding both flailing kids up by the scruffs of their shirts, "Would you both knock it off! I'm not going to hurt you!"

The kids continued flailing for a few more moments, but they slowly calmed down, looking at the oversized humanoid creature questioningly, and spoke in unison; "You're not…?"

The blue yo-kai sighed heavily, letting both kids down, before he was suddenly surrounded by a swirl of dark energy, which then faded to reveal the same being, but much smaller, and less intimidating.

"Shadowside…?" Kirene muttered with a slightly confused look.

Nate glanced at the female yo-kai with even more confusion than she had, but chose not to question that, for the moment.

"I am SV Snaggerjag, and I'm the guardian of Catfish Pond!" the previously intimidating being introduced in a calm voice, "I noticed you two children seemed lost, and I was trying to get you back onto the path that would lead you out of the woods, but you both ran away."

"B-But you sounded so mad and scary," Nate whimpered, with Kirene nodding in agreement.

SV Snaggerjag sighed, "I wasn't angry, though I was a bit annoyed you kept running from me… maybe I could have approached you a bit better…" the guardian let out a small cough of embarrassment, before gesturing for the children to follow him, "Come on, I'll show you to the right trail."

As SV Snaggerjag started floating forward, the two children shared an unsure look, but after a moment, they decided to follow, though they both gripped each other's hand tightly, not letting go as they walked after the guardian spirit.

* * *

After setting the children on the right path, SV Snaggerjag retreated to Catfish Pond, wishing them both good luck and cautioning them to try not to get lost again.

Nate and Kirene found it to be a short walk up to the shrine, their hands remaining rigidly connected as they made their way there, and soon they found themselves entering the campsite.

As soon as they reached the area, Nate sensed an overwhelming surge of emotions; primarily worry, unrest, and anger; that last one was probably mainly from his mama yelling at the camp director…

"I DON'T CARE HOW LONG WE NEED TO SEARCH! I WANT MY BABY FOUND!"

The director had more than a little fear emitting from him, "Ma'am, p-please come down, we're trying our– "

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, MY BABY IS OUT THERE ALL BY HIMSELF, PROBABLY TERRIFIED OUT OF HIS MIND, OR EVEN HURT– "

"Mama!" Nate suddenly called out, separating from Kirene as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, towards his mother.

Lily froze mid-sentence, turning to look at the little boy rushing towards her, before tears started to form in her eyes, "NATHAN!"

Nate kept running until he reached his mother, who wrapped him in a tight hug, and started sobbing.

"Oh, my baby! I'm so sorry! I told you nothing would happen, I told you you'd be alright, and we almost lost you!" the woman cried as she left her son, continuing to hold him tightly as she wiped some tears from her eyes.

"It's okay Mama, I'm alright now," Nate assured, sniffling a bit and wiping a few tears from his own eyes.

"And I'm so happy to see you unharmed!" Lily gave a wide smile, despite the tears still flowing from her eyes, before she turned and starting waving, "Aaron! Our son's back! He's alright!"

That shout had the father frantically rushing over, before his wife handed him the boy, who he hugged, "Son, you scared us half to death! I'm so glad to see you safe!"

"It's fine, Daddy, I was really scared, but my new friend helped me!" Nate giggled a bit as his father ruffled his hair, before he was set down.

"Friend, was there someone with you?" Aaron questioned, looking a bit worried at the idea of another child getting lost in the forest.

"Kirene, she's over there!" Nate smiled, pointing to where the cat-like girl stood.

Kirene flinched a bit, giving a shy look, waving at Nate, and looking between his parents warily.

"Nathan, who are you referring to…?" Lily questioned, she and her husband both seeming a bit worried as they looked in the direction their son was pointing.

Nate glanced in Kirene's direction, and then back at his parents; not only seeing, but sensing the concern coming from them, '_They… can't see her. Like the other ones, 'yo-kai,_''

Kirene seemed nervous, but also amazed, looking around at all the humans bustling around the camp, "Wow, I've never seen so many humans up close before."

Nate smiled at Kirene's innocent curiosity, before looking back at his parents and scratching his head, wondering how he should explain this, "Well… Kirene helped me, but I guess you can't see her? She said she was a 'yo-kai,' and that people can't normally see them, but I could for some reason, and she helped me find my way back," the young boy nodded quickly, giving a wide, innocent smile to his parents, "Along with that big guy; the guardian of Catfish Pond! He also helped us find our way, even if he did seem scary at first!"

Both of Nate's parents looked unsure in how to respond to what their child was saying; they could tell he wasn't lying to them, Nathan was never a good liar, and the few times he did lie, he never did so with a smile. But the things he was saying… they were hard to take in.

Finally, both parents just gave long, relieved sighs, with them hugging their young son between them.

"Well, it sounds like you had a couple of helpful spirits to guide you back to us, Nathan," Lily concluded, a gentle, loving smile on her face as she stroked the boy's head.

"Yeah, wish we could thank them in person, but I don't think they're going to show themselves to us," Aaron chuckled, patting the boy's shoulder, "But, I hope they know how grateful we are for your safe return."

Kirene gave a small, slightly embarrassed, smile as she listened to the parents' words.

After a bit more hugging and words of assurance, Nathan's parents finally let him back onto the ground.

"Sweetie, if you want to go home, we can," Lily spoke in a slightly worried tone, "I'm sure this whole thing was very scary for you; we told you everything would be fine, but…" the mother looked incredibly guilty as she glanced to the ground, sniffling a bit.

"It's not your fault, Mama," Nate tried to assure, patting his mother's leg, while his father wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Besides, I don't want to leave."

Both parents' eyes widened in surprise; they had fully expected their child to want to go home after this experience. They kind of just wanted to take him and go, regardless of his opinion, but the smile on their son's face had them hesitant to do so.

"I know you're worried," Nate spoke again; having picked up on his parents' conflicting emotions. "But I'm not going to get lost again, I'm sure. I don't want to leave, I've made friends, and I want to keep playing!" the small boy glanced to the ground, a sheepish smile appearing on his face, "Camping's… really fun, I don't want to go home yet."

"Well… if you're sure," Nate's mother sniffled, wiping a stray tear from her eye, but gave her son a proud smile, "We wouldn't want you to miss out on the rest of the fun."

"Yay!" Nate cheered, jumping around in a little circle, "Camping!"

The young boy's parents shared a smile and small laugh as they watched their child; the worry they had felt going to the back of their minds as they took in how happy their little boy was.

However, that moment was interrupted when they noticed the Camp Director motioning for them to come over, and the parents were reminded that they were still rather upset with that man, and the others' running the camp.

"Stay right there, sweetie," Lily spoke firmly, placing both hands on her son's shoulders as he stopped jumping, "Mama and Daddy need to have a few more words with the Camp Director."

"But don't go anywhere; we want you to still be right here when we get back, understand?" Aaron spoke in a firm tone, looking down at the child with stern, but gentle eyes.

Nate looked between his parents, sensing their attempts to repress their worry, as well as the wild mixture of other emotions still rushing through them, "Yeah, okay; I won't go anywhere!" Nate nodded quickly, holding out his finger, "Pinky promise!"

Lily nodded, locking her own pinky finger with her son's, "Pinky promise."

Both parents kissed the boy's cheeks and ruffled his hair a bit, causing him to release a few giggles, before they got up and began making their way over to where the Camp Director was motioning for them to follow.

Nate watched his parents, waving all the way, and trying to ignore how the anger seemed to be overwhelming their other emotions the further they got from him…

"So, uh, Nate?"

The young boy turned to Kirene, seeing her looking away from him, shuffling one of her feet around a bit, her ears twitching, "Kirene? Is something wrong?"

"N-No! I, uh…" the young cat-girl stuttered slightly, looking unable to express what she wanted to say to the boy, her face started to turn a deep red as she released a few, obviously fake, coughs, "T-Thanks for all your help, and stuff… y-you're back with your parents now, and I really need to get going, so, uh… this is… goodbye…?"

Nate's eyes widened and his smile turned to a distraught frown, "G-Goodbye…?" the boy whimpered, tears threatening to spill from his eyes, but he quickly shook his head and forced a new smile, "B-But… we'll see each other again, right?"

"I, uh…" Kirene sniffled, tears starting to form from her own eyes, looking really unsure of the answer to that question, "Y-Yeah, we'll see each other again!" she quickly forced her own smile, nodding at the boy quickly, despite her tail visibly drooping.

"P-Promise?" Nate asked, holding back the urge to sniffle.

Kirene flinched, looking down at the ground, "I… I gotta go…" she turned and began to speed off, ignoring how Nate reached out his hand for her, but stopping just at the steps back to the shrine, turning back to Nate and giving a shaky smile, "Thanks… for being my first friend!"

And just like that, she was gone…

Nate stood there silently, staring at the spot Kirene had been in only seconds before, feeling extremely conflicted on how to feel, '_She said I'd see her again, so I will… but why did she look like that…? Is there something she wasn't telling me? Why did she refuse to promise!? Was she lying!?_' panic started to pulse through the young boy's mind as he started to consider the possibility of never seeing the little cat-girl again.

"Nate!?"

Nate's frantic thoughts regarding his yo-kai friend were put on hold when he noticed one of his other friends rushing towards him, "Zo?" he blinked as the black-haired girl came to a halt in front of him, a frantic and worried expression on her face, and similar emotions rolling off of her.

"Are you alright!?" Zoey asked with a frantic and somewhat frazzled look, darting around to look over the boy from every angle.

"Yeah," Nate nodded, caught off guard by the bespectacled girl's behavior.

Zoey released a big sigh of relief, before she lunged forward and wrapped the boy in a tight hug, sniffling into his shoulder.

"… Zo?" Nate could feel all Zoey's distraught emotions mixing with her relief and wasn't sure what to think.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault," the black-haired girl whimpered, nuzzling her face into the boy's shoulder, "It was my idea to wander away from the grown-ups!"

Nate hugged the girl back, "What, n-no! It's not your fault I got lost, Zo, I should'a watched where I was going."

Zoey just cried as she kept hugging her friend.

"Nate!?" Mary-Lou was soon rushing over as well, joining Zoey in hugging the boy and crying.

Nate comforted both girls as best he could, continuing to assure them he was fine, and that neither of them were to blame for him getting lost.

Though, the boy couldn't help drifting into thoughts about Kirene, and his desires to see her again, and if he would be able to introduce her to Zo and May…

* * *

It was late in the night, and Nate was sleeping peacefully in a little sleeping bag, set between both his parents in their tent.

"_Psst_."

The young boy mumbled a bit in his sleep, tossing and turning a bit, before regaining his peaceful smile.

"_Pssst. Hey, Nate?_"

Nate mumbled a bit more, his eyes drifting open, before he noted the sounds of rustling, and a shadow moving around the tent…

"_Nate, can you hear me?_" Kirene's voice whispered, the cat-girl shadow placing hands on the tent, her head tilting, "_Come on, you need to tell me if you can hear me…_"

Nate pulled himself up, eyes widening in recognition, before he moved over to the wall of the tent where Kirene was touching, careful not to wake either of his slumbering parents, "Kirene, is that you?"

"Nate? Of course, it's me," the yo-kai girl huffed, sounding a bit annoyed, "Meet me outside, we need to talk."

Young Nathan blinked, the sounds of Kirene scurrying away from the side of the tent, her shadow fading, preventing him from doing any further questioning at that moment.

The little boy glanced down at his parents once more; both seemed completely peaceful, their emotional auras in calm states, and pleasant smiles on both of their faces. Nate seemed a bit conflicted on the idea of leaving without their knowledge, and how much they would be worried if they woke up and he wasn't there…

But… Nate really wanted to see Kirene, after having thought he may never see her again; he wanted to talk to her.

With his decision made, the small child made his way over to the entrance to the tent, carefully unzipping it and slipping out, without his parents' notice, and closing it behind him, and hoping that neither of his parents would wake up before he got back.

Walking forward, Nate glanced between the different tents of the other camping families, the world dark aside from the light of the stars and moon, "Kirene…? Kirene, where are you?"

"Over here, Nate!"

Nate looked in the direction of the shrine, seeing the silhouette of the familiar cat-girl up by one of the lion-dog statues. Smiling, the boy started to move towards her. However, before Nate could make it to the steps, he heard something behind him… and the boy suddenly found himself being lifted up and stuffed into a bag.

"AH!? What's going on!?" Nate cried out as he struggled, feeling his kidnapper beginning to move, as he still tried and failed to get out, "Kirene! Mama! Daddy! Somebody, help me!" the terrified child cried for her help, but none heard his plea…

* * *

After what felt like hours (but was really more like ten minutes) of struggling and screaming, Nate was finally set down onto a cushioned seat, and he was freed.

And the boy promptly let out a terrified scream at the sight of a floating skull before him.

"Oh dear!" the skull exclaimed in a polite tone, a headless, tuxedo-suited body, reeling back a bit from just behind it. "Sorry about the scare boy, but I was under strict orders."

Nate started to calm down, but still was frightened, looking at the floating skull warily, "W-What…?"

"Dangit, Gustaf!" Kirene walked in from behind the skeleton, looking towards Nate with concern, "Why did you go and stuff Nate into a sack like that!?"

"I'm very sorry, Young Mistress," the floating skull spoke nervously, the body bowing, "But your father was very specific about his desires in regards to meeting the boy; he is not yet sure he can be trusted, so he didn't want to reveal the location of the our hideout."

Kirene crossed her arms and huffed, before turning her attention back towards Nate, walking over to him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," the human boy did his best to smile, despite still clearly being shaken. Nate took a moment to glance around; he was seated on a normal, cushioned chair, in a dimly lit room, looking like a basement, judging by the lack of many items aside from boxes in the immediate surroundings, and the stairs that lead up to the only visible door. "I'm fine, Kirene… I'm just happy to see you."

Kirene looked to be caught off guard by the genuine smile the boy sent her way, having her face immediately turn a deep red as she looked to the floor, "Well, uh… you know, I wanted to see you again, too."

Both Nate and Kirene shared a smile again, a few laughs escaping from them, the yo-kai girl's blushing dying down a bit but remaining prominent.

"Oh, young mistress," Gustaf sniffled, his skull floating over to the body, which used a tissue to wipe away some of the tears that had started to fall from his eye sockets, "To see you have made a dear friend in such a short time, it's so moving!"

Nate blinked, staring at the skeleton butler blankly, any fear he had felt towards him having faded, "Why's he crying…?"

Kirene let out a heavy groan, looking away from Nate with embarrassment, "He cries about everything, just ignore him."

"I'm sure once your father sees the bond you two have formed, he will come to view the boy as one of his own in no time!" the butler cried, more tears coming from his eye sockets.

Nate scratched his head, getting up from the chair, and looking to Kirene questioningly, "Your father? Kirene, am I gonna meet your dad?"

The cat-girl glanced back at Nate, before a realization seemed to strike her, and she suddenly seemed very afraid, "Oh no, I didn't think this through!"

The human looked at his yo-kai companion with confusion, approaching her, "Kirene, what's wrong?"

The sound of earth-shaking footsteps suddenly caught Nate's attention, the boy almost falling to the ground, looking up to the top of the stairs, where the footsteps were coming from.

"Nate, hide!" Kirene grabbed the boy's wrist before he could react, pushing him behind a box near her, and motioning for him to be quiet, glaring at Gustaf as well to do the same.

Nate didn't know what to think, feeling himself growing wary again, silently peeking out from his hiding spot, and looking up the stairs once more.

And then, the door burst open, and the human child was met with a _terrifying _sight.

Standing at the top of the steps was the gigantic form of a burly cat-man. His head surrounded by a large teal mane. His fur was dark gray, and his eyes glowed yellow, and a snarl showed his mouth to be filled with razor sharp teeth.

With one step forward, the entire basement shook, and then once more with the next. Several more mini-earthquakes would pulse through the room as the large cat-man continued his way down the steps.

Kirene nervously stood in front of Nate's hiding place, while the boy pulled back further into the box's shadow.

The intimidating figure came to the bottom of the staircase, and silently looked between the skeletal butler, and the little cat-girl…

"H-Hi, Daddy," Kirene gave an innocent smile.

"… Where's _the boy_," the cat-man hissed, his fangs showing as he turned his glare to the butler.

Nate's body started shivering even more intensely than before, trying to squeeze into as small a space as possible within the box's shadow.

"T-The boy, Master Gowin…?" Gustaf questioned nervously, a bit of an unsure look in his glowing eye sockets.

"Yes, '_the boy_!' The one I ordered you to bring here," Gowin growled, a tone that indicated he didn't have much patience at this moment. "Why are you hiding him!? I want him in front of me, _NOW_!"

"Daddy, he, uh…" Kirene spoke nervously, bringing her father's attention back to her, while she scrambled to come up with something, "Gustaf couldn't find him, his family already left the mountain!"

"Young Mistress, you should not lie to your father!" Gustaf suddenly spoke up in a scolding tone, his nervousness fading at that moment.

Kirene gave a bit of a growl and glared at the butler.

Gustaf shrunk back at the young girl's reaction, and even more so when the father turned his attention back to him, "Oh… I may have misspoken."

"So, he _is _here," the lion-like man growled, sniffing the air a bit, his gaze turning towards the box Kirene was standing in front of.

"Yes… he's here, Master, I brought him as you commanded," the butler reluctantly revealed, bowing his floating head to Gowin.

"No, he's not here!" Kirene protested, standing firmly in front of the box, any signs of nervousness fading as she glared defiantly at her father. "Go away, Daddy!"

Gowin subtly flinched at his daughter's words, but quickly regained his intimidating look, looking down at her, and glaring at the box she stood in front of, "Kirene, _move_."

"No!" Kirene defied again, showing her small fangs. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friend!"

From his hiding spot, Nate looked towards Kirene with amazement, but also worry; he didn't know what kind of person Kirene's father was, would he hurt his own daughter…?

Gowin's expression was impassive as he kept looking down at his child, "And, why do you think I _would_ hurt your friend?"

"Because he's a human," Kirene muttered, looking to the ground briefly, glancing back to Nate in his hiding spot, and then glaring up at her father again, "You told me to stay away from humans, you told me they were dangerous! But Nate isn't dangerous, none of the humans at the camp were dangerous, you lied! You lied to me, Daddy!"

Gowin's expression cracked again; a heartbroken expression briefly crossing his visage at the sound of betrayal and accusation in his little girl's voice, he quickly hid it once more, and gave a sigh, "Kirene, I said to be careful around humans. I never said_ all_ humans were dangerous…"

Both Kirene and Nate paused, a bit of confusion on both of their faces at the gentler tone the large yo-kai's voice took.

"Now, come out of there, little boy, I want to see what kind of person you are," the father spoke calmly, looking directly at Nate.

Nate's eyes widened in surprise, and Kirene's ears stuck up for similar reasons.

"Why are you looking so surprised? Did you really think I couldn't see you?" Gowin gave a small smirk as he looked down at the boy.

Carefully, Nate slunk out from his hiding place, and stood next to Kirene, looking up at Gowin with a mixture of fear, amazement, and respect.

Kirene stood by the boy's side warily, glancing between her father and him…

Gowin stared down at the shaking Nate, an analytical look in his eyes, and he took a few sniffs of the air with his nose. "What's your name, kid?"

"N-Nathan Adams," the brunette child answered quickly, giving a bow. "It-It's nice to meet you, Mr. Bundory!"

"Adams, huh…?" Gowin seemed to take an interest at the mention of the boy's last name. "So, you want to be friends with my daughter?"

"Y-Yeah," Nate nodded timidly.

Kirene looked anxiously between the two, still unsure if her friend was truly safe in the presence of her father…

"Oh, are you really sure?" Gowin looked serious, staring down at the child intimidatingly.

Nate shrunk back, but still nodded, "Y-Yes! I want to be good friends with Kirene!"

Gowin nodded, giving a smirk and wink, "You better not be _lion_ to me, kid!"

There was a moment of dead silence after that statement, Kirene anxiety faded completely, and in its place was a look of pure mortification.

Gustaf just stood stiff, looking a bit awkward.

And, as for Nate, he seemed to be thinking…

"Oh, I get it!" Nate suddenly exclaimed, smiling up at the large cat-man, "It's because you look kind of like a lion, and you were asking if I was lying! But you said lion!" the little boy chuckled.

Kirene just stared at Nate with a dumbfounded expression, almost unable to process the concept of someone laughing at one of her dad's puns, other than himself…

"I like this kid!" the giant cat-man suddenly announced, a wide smile on his face as he effortlessly lifted Nate up by the head, inciting a surprised squeak from the human child, "He's got a good head on his shoulders, and he knows a good pun when he hears one!"

"I do?" Nate blinked, limply hanging from the yo-kai man's hand, staring at him with wide, blank eyes.

"Oh, Daddy…" Kirene facepalmed with a heavy sigh, but still gave a little smile at the fact her father liked her new friend.

"Yeah, I think this is a good one," Gowin nodded, setting the boy back down, and giving his daughter a nod of approval, "I think you might just have found a potential great friend here, Kirene."

"R-Really…?" Kirene turned bashful at the comment, blushing a bit as she glanced at Nate, "But, we really haven't known each other very long, w-we still need to get to know each other more!"

The father let out a loud chuckle, ruffling his daughter's hair, "True, but I can already tell this is going to work out!" he turned his focus back to the human, "So, Nathan, you_ really_ interested in being friends with my little girl?"

Kirene subtly looked at Nate, a slightly anxious look crossing her face, despite how much Nate had already expressed to the contrary, she couldn't help but consider if the boy would choose not to have anything more to do with her…

Of course, the boy's answer was still predictable.

"Yeah, I want to keep being friends with Kirene!" Nate exclaimed excitedly, jumping up a few times with a big smile, "I like her a lot, and I want to keep seeing her, and become better friends with her!"

In an instant, the anxiety in Kirene's expression vanished, replaced with a happy smile, as she let out a small chuckle, "Of course you would say that." She nodded, as Nate turned to look at her, "I want to keep spending time with you too, of course."

Both children laughed, while Gowin watched over with a big grin, and Gustaf cried tears of joy.

Though, of course, the current moment was halted when Nate took consideration of a certain possibility…

"I have to get back to the tent, before my mama and daddy wake up!" Nate exclaimed, waving his arms around in what looked like an imitation of a bird flapping its wings, "If I'm not there, they'll get super worried again!"

Gowin nodded in understanding, petting the child on the head, before turning to the skeletal butler, "Gustaf, can you get the kid back to his camp, without anyone noticing?"

The floating skull nodded, with the body bowing, "Of course, Master Gowin! I will get young Nathan back to his parents, without anyone the wiser, post-haste!"

The butler gestured for Nate to follow him back up the stairs, which he did, giving him the first look of the main room of the hideout.

He came up into a living space looking like an abandoned cabin, filled with random 'junk' items, but from sounds he could hear in the walls, including footsteps and quiet voices, the boy quickly concluded that there were probably some secret doors around; this seemed to be confirmed by Gowin closing the basement door, which just looked like a part of the wall.

"Come, young boy, I'll make sure you are returned with zero fanfare," Gustaf's head floated over to the boy, while his body bowed.

"Do I have to go back in the bag…?" Nathan questioned with a slight whimper in his voice.

Gustaf flinched at that, and how Kirene was glaring at him again didn't help, "N-No, young Nathan, I assure; that will not be necessary."

It took a bit more assurance, but Nate eventually started following the butler with no hassle, exiting out from the old house and into a clearing, which he recognized as being up the trail from Mt. Wildwood's shrine.

Before he left, Nate turned back to look at Kirene, as she stepped out from the hideout with a shy look on her face, "Uh… bye, sorry about… all _that_."

The boy smiled at his yo-kai friend, "I wasn't expecting it to be this way, but I'm really happy I got to see you again, and I hope we can see each other again in the future!"

Kirene went a bit stiff, her face nearly glowing in the dark of the night, she shook her head rapidly before looking at the boy seriously, "W-We'll meet up again tomorrow! C-Come back here, tomorrow, and… I'll be here, w-we'll play together!"

Nate nodded, an eager expression coming to his face, "Yeah! I want to play lots of games with you, Kirene! I'll be here, and maybe I'll get a chance to introduce you to my other friends!"

"Y-Yeah, maybe…" Kirene gave a dizzy smile as she took a couple steps back, she didn't seem to be 'all there' at that moment, her legs going a bit wobbly as she released a heavy sigh.

"Oh, but I am so happy to see the Young Mistress growing so close to a new friend," Gustaf sniffled, tears beginning to form in his eye sockets once more.

The incoming crying from her butler was enough to snap Kirene out of her dazed moment and had her quickly waving off the skeletal butler and human boy, "Okay, no time for crying, Gustaf! You gotta get Nate back to the camp, ASAP!"

The tears coming from the skull quickly disappeared as Gustaf snapped back to attention, "Oh, yes, of course!" the decapitated gave another bow to his Young Mistress, before he started walking down the path, gesturing for Nate to follow him once more, "Come alone, young Nathan! We must not worry your parents!"

"Right, coming!" Nate nodded back, quickly turning to follow the yo-kai butler, giving Kirene one final wave goodbye, before the pair made their way back down the trail, to the shrine, and over to the campsite.

Nate was able to slip back into his family's tent without much issue, snuggling back in between his still slumbering parents, where he began to drift back to sleep himself, where he peacefully would remain for the remainder of the night.

* * *

The next day, Nate awoke to another day of fun camp activities, though his parents were clearly still wary about him getting lost again, they were starting to calm down around when noon came.

It was still a bit difficult for Nate to convince them to let him out of their sight, but the pleading from their son that he wanted to play with his new friends, had allowed some lenience.

Nate's parents weren't the only ones wary over their children getting lost after yesterday's incident, of course, but allowing the children to roam around freely up in a clearing a bit up the nearby trail, while the parents watched from the sidelines, was deemed acceptable.

Luckily, this clearing was the same one where Kirene and her family set up their hideout, inside the old abandoned house, so Nate saw it as the perfect opportunity for Kirene to meet his other two friends!

Nate would have preferred to be able to introduce Zoey and Mary-Lou to Kirene without his parents watching, but, he supposed it was fine; they couldn't see her anyway, and from the distance, they wouldn't really be able to tell that he was talking to an 'invisible' friend…

"Where's this friend of yours anyway?" Zoey questioned impatiently, looking around for any signs of another person, "Is she perhaps, an invisible spirit?" she gained a little smirk at that idea.

"Don't be ridiculous, Zoey!" Mary-Lou snapped, trying to hide any signs of nervousness behind her glare.

The three friends were standing a bit away from the other kids in the clearing, though still not far away enough that their parents could lose sight of them.

Nate blinked, before he scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Actually… that's not too far off."

This comment from Nate had starkly opposite reactions from his two human friends; with Zoey's grin growing, and Mary-Lou fearfully freezing up.

"Y-You're kidding, right Nate…?" the pink-haired girl questioned nervously.

Nate shook his head, flinching a bit as he felt the unease pouring off May, "She's not scary though! Don't worry!" the boy quickly waved his hands and gave an assuring smile.

Mary-Lou's fear eased a bit at this assurance from Nate, but it wasn't completely gone, "Y-You sure…?"

"Not _all _spirits are scary, May," Zoey snorted, rolling her eyes and turning away from the other girl, and chuckling to herself.

At that moment, all fear that Mary-Lou felt was overwhelmed by her annoyance towards Zoey, "I told you, you can't use that nickname, Zoey! _Only _Nate can call me 'May!'"

Zoey shrugged, smirking at the other girl once more, "And yet; I said it, so clearly I _can _call you 'May,' May!" the bespectacled girl blew a raspberry.

The pink-haired girl started fuming, looking almost ready to attack her black-haired friend.

"Guys, please stop," Nate pleaded, wincing and backing off in response to the irate emotions.

The two girls were about to rebuff the boy's protests, but as soon as they looked at him, and saw his pained expression, they quickly calmed down: their primary emotions synchronizing into concern.

"I'm going to get her, she shouldn't be far…" Nate assured, glancing over at the abandoned house near the upper left corner of the clearing, careful not to draw any attention to himself as he did so… He failed.

"What are you doing?"

Nate yelped as he turned to see a boy his age staring at him with a blank expression; a boy with short blank hair, aside from a bit at the front that was longer and went over one of his right eye. He had a round pair of glasses, and was wearing a yellow T-shirt, and a pair of dark blue shorts.

"I, uh… was just gonna look at that old house," Nate explained nervously, glancing towards his parents, who luckily only seemed to notice how he was talking to another kid his age, and not that he was inching towards an old 'abandoned' house.

Nate looked back at the boy; his expression gave nothing away emotion wise… and Nate found he couldn't sense his emotions either, '_Huh… that's weird._'

"I don't think that's a good idea," the bespectacled boy stated plainly, "I heard old buildings like that are dangerous, and you shouldn't go wandering into them."

Nate glanced over at Mary-Lou and Zoey; both girls were still watching him, and simply shrugged. Nate turned back to the other boy and tried his best to give a smile that _didn't _look nervous (he was sure he failed), "Well, you're right, but I'm not gonna go into it, I just wanted to look at it."

The black-haired boy kept staring at Nate with his unchanging expression, before a small smile came to his face, and he nodded, "Alright, just be careful," he turned to walk away, but he stopped to glance back over at Nate and gave a passive, yet friendly look, "I'm Lucas Schiffer, by the way."

"Nathan Adams, but you can call me Nate," the brown-haired boy nodded, giving a friendly smile back, despite his nervousness.

Lucas nodded back, waving as he walked back over to the other kids.

Once Nate was sure Lucas was no longer watching, he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding, glance back at Zoey and Mary-Lou, to see they were still patiently watching, before he finished creeping towards the secret Bundory hideout, and subtly knocked on the door.

A few moments passed with nothing happening, and Nate considered that he may have to try knocking louder, but before he could come to the point to try that; the door cracked open, ever so slightly.

"So, you came?"

Nate was surprised to hear the unfamiliar voice of a young boy, as opposed to the voice of Kirene, Gomin, or Gustaf, and the glowing yellow eyes that were from a figure taller than him, but not by too much.

"Uh, yeah… hello… are you one of Kirene's brothers?" Nate asked carefully, recalling that Kirene mentioned she had brothers.

"… I am," the hidden boy commented coolly, his glowing eyes scanning over Nate in a critical manner, not dissimilar to how his father had done so the previous night. "I assume you're here to see Kirene?"

Nate nodded, trying not to let his nervousness show, "Yeah; I wanted to play with her, and to introduce her to my other friends!" the young boy gestured to where Zoey and Mary-Lou were standing; both of them seemed to have stopped watching him for the time being, caught up in some kind of conversation between the two of them.

The eyes of the yo-kai behind the door narrowed, looking at where Nate was pointing, and at all the other human children whom were walking around the clearing, and the parents and camp consolers that stood nearby, "You brought more humans to our secret hideout!?"

The harsh tone had Nate flinching, "N-No, I didn't bring them; we were all gonna come here anyway, and none of them know about you, or yo-kai–I don't think – I just thought I could play with Kirene, Zo, and May together, even if they can't see her."

Kirene's brother didn't seem entirely convinced, still glaring at the human boy with suspicion, however; he was soon pulled away from the door, causing his eyes to widen in surprise, "H-Hey!"

"Dandory, stop it!" Nate could hear Kirene's voice from behind the door.

"B-But– "Dandory tried to protest but was quickly interrupted by his younger sister.

"Even Daddy thinks Nate's a good human, so don't try to stop me! None of those other humans can see us anyway!"

Nate took a step back from the door at the sound of a lot of rustling, and a few more muffled voices that were heard for the boy to make out.

The door creeped open a bit further, enough for Kirene to step out of the door, quietly closing the door behind her so that none of the other kids would take notice, and smiled at Nate, "You're here! You came!"

"Yeah, you're my friend now, I wanted to see you again," Nate gave a bright smile as he took hold of Kirene's right hand.

The cat-girl let out a squeak, her face reddening, before she gave a nervous smile to the boy, "R-Right."

Nate nodded his head eagerly, before he started pulling Kirene along, "Come on! I want to introduce you to my other friends!"

That comment had Kirene's blush and smile fading, "Wait, other friends…?"

Nate didn't notice Kirene's expression, focused on looking towards where his two other friends were still talking, and leading the way, "Yeah! Even if they won't be able to see you, I can tell them what you say! I'm sure you'll get along great with Zo and May!"

Kirene's frown worsened, glancing where Nate was headed, "They're _girls_…?"

"Yeah, they're both real nice!" Nate still didn't take notice of the yo-kai girl's mood.

Kirene grumbled under her breath but didn't protest as she continued to walk with Nate.

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's gonna be a ghost," Zoey stated with a big smirk.

"No, he said it's not far off, but that doesn't mean it's a ghost!" Mary-Lou countered, shaking her head, "Maybe it's a fairy!"

"You think Nate's new friend is a _fairy_?" Zoey rose a brow.

Mary-Lou's face turned a bit red from embarrassment, before her cheeks puffed up in anger, and she stomped her feet on the ground, "N-No! I said _maybe_! Anyway, you think his friend's a _ghost_!"

Zoey gave a dull look in response to that, "And, what exactly is your point?"

The pink-haired girl's eye twitched and looked like she was about to snap.

"May, Zo!" Nate called out as he approached the two girls, Kirene in hand. "We're back!"

The reappearance of the boy had both girls stopping in their conversation, and Mary-Lou from snapping, before they looked at Nate's hand questioningly.

"N-Nate, you're back…" Mary-Lou looked at the hand that, from her perspective, seemed to be gripping thin air, "Did you… bring your friend…?"

"She's right here, right…?" Zoey looked quizzically, squinting her eyes in Kirene's direction, before they widened, "Wait, I kind of see something; is your friend a blurry fog ghost!?"

Nate blinked questioningly, glancing at Kirene, who let out a hiss, before he looked back at Zoey, "Er… no, she's more like a cat person…"

Mary-Lou stared at where Zoey was looking, and her eyes widened in fear as she jumped back, "Ah!? Blurry g-ghost monster!? I see it–her!"

Nate looked surprised by the reactions, and all the confused, fearful, and curious feelings rolling off his two human friends, "Wait, you can see her, but that's not what she looks like," he turned to Kirene questioningly, "I thought people normally couldn't see you at all?"

Kirene still glared at the other two girls, before she let out a sigh and turned to Nate, "It's a bit more complicated than that, from what I know; if a human who can't normally see yo-kai knows one's there, they can see them, but perception isn't perfect, so they probably can only barely make me out, and probably can't hear me."

Nate blinked, "Wait, why? I thought you were invisible…"

Kirene huffed, letting go of the boy's hand, and turning away, "Don't ask me! I don't know everything about how this all works; I've never even talked to a human before I met you!"

Nate flinched, lowering his eyes, "S-Sorry…"

The cat-girl sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to the human boy, "It's fine, but could you please tell your friends to stop staring at me like that?"

Looking back at Zoey and Mary-Lou, Nate noted that they were still staring at her with wide-eyes, and their emotions were still all in a confusing swirl that almost made the boy dizzy.

Nate coughed, bringing the focus to him, "Uh… guys, could you stop staring like that? Kirene doesn't really like it."

Mary-Lou gasped, turning away with embarrassment, "O-Oh, sorry! I-I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable."

"You've still gotta explain this to us Nate," Zoey grunted reluctantly stopping in her 'observation' and focusing on the boy.

"Right, I'll try," Nate nodded, giving an unsure glance to Kirene, before he began, "So, Kirene says it's something like that humans normally can't see yo-kai, but if they know they're there, they can kind of see them, or something…" he looked at Kirene again, and she just shrugged, "So, um, that's why she looks all blurry and stuff to you guys, and why you can't hear her talking, I think."

"You _think_?" Zoey rose a brow.

Nate scratched his head with a nervous look in his eyes, "I really don't know that much about this stuff, only what Kirene says, and she doesn't know everything either."

Zoey looked disappointed with the lack of answers, though her interest towards the mysterious 'ghost' did not lessen any.

Mary-Lou, on the other hand, just looked unsure of everything that was happening.

Kirene glared at both human girls, even knowing they probably couldn't see it.

Nate felt a great deal of tension in the air between his three friends, even though he couldn't sense Kirene's emotions, and was starting to feel uneasy himself.

Quickly deciding he wanted to get rid of that tension, as quickly as possible, the brunette boy spoke up, "Uh, guys, what kind of games should we play together?"

This question had all three girls looking to the one boy, and their expressions turning thoughtful.

"Hide and seek?" Kirene suggested with a small smirk.

Nate gave an unsure look to that idea, "That seems a little unfair to Zo and May."

The cat-girl crossed her arms and pouted towards the denial.

"What would be unfair to us?" Zoey asked, tapping Nate's shoulder.

Nate looked at Zoey, noting that Mary-Lou was giving a similar questioning look, "Hide and seek, it wouldn't really be fair since you can't see Kirene fully."

At that, Zoey smirked, "Trying to spot a hiding, semi-invisible spirit? I actually like the sound of that!"

"Huh!?" Mary-Lou looked at the bespectacled girl with a shocked expression.

Despite still seeming apprehensive, Kirene's smirk returned at Zoey's comment, "I think I may actually come to like that one, Nate."

Nate blinked, before shrugging; happy that Kirene was starting to warm up to his other friends, a little at least.

"So, hide and seek then…?" Mary-Lou blinked, looking over at Nate with a clear aura of nervousness, but also curiosity. "I'm not so sure about Kirene being a hider, though."

Kirene let out a 'hmph,' crossing her arms and glaring at the pink-haired girl, her smirk remaining, "Fine by me; I'll find all of you! Just try to hide from me!"

Nate blinked, before he shrugged and smiled to the human girls, "Kirene says she'll be the seeker, so we all should start looking for hiding spots!" the boy turned back to the cat-girl, giving an excited chuckle, "You better start counting, Kirene, and no peeking!"

Kirene gave a playful snarl, bopping Nate on the shoulder, "I don't need to peek! My keen sense of hearing will find you all with no issue!" after that exclamation, she turned away from the group and covered her eyes and began counting.

Nate nodded to Zoey and Mary-Lou, to confirm it was time to go hide, and the three kids scattered.

While the two girls made their hiding places among the bushes and trees, Nate decided to head back over to the abandoned house where the Bundory's were based, heading around the corner and hiding behind it, giggling to himself as he ducked down, '_Kirene will never find me here!_'

Though, as Nate stayed in his spot, thinking himself completely hidden, he didn't notice as someone crept up behind him, not until it was too late…

"Human," a cold voice spoke.

Nate yelped as a similarly chilly hand made its way to his shoulder, before he turned around, and found himself looking into the same yellow eyes he had seen within the house before, though now he could see the full form of this brother of Kirene, 'Dandory' he recalled his name was.

"Do not scream," the white and blue furred cat-boy ordered firmly, keeping a frosty glare on the human child.

Nate shivered, which he wasn't sure was from his own nerves, or the chilly air that seemed to be emitting from the yo-kai boy, but he nodded, keeping his mouth shut.

"Good, at least you can listen," Dandory spoke coolly, looking down at Nate.

The cat-boy was a good head taller than Nate, and the human boy would say he was probably around ten or eleven years old.

"I want to make something clear to you; I don't want you around my little sister," Dandory stated bluntly, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

At that moment, the nervousness Nate felt towards the feline yo-kai, was almost immediately overshadowed by his feelings towards that statement, "What? Why? Kirene's my friend."

The older boy scoffed, "You barely know her."

Nate blinked, standing up straighter, looking the yo-kai in the eyes, "I mean… that's true, I only met her yesterday, we were both lost, so we worked together to find our way out of the woods."

"So, I've heard," Dandory nodded, his expression unchanging.

"But… that doesn't mean she's not my friend," the human boy gave a genuine smile, any fear towards the yo-kai boy now completely gone, "I told her I wanted to be friends, and I wasn't lying! So, I'm not going to stop spending time with her now, not when we're just starting to get to know each other!"

Dandory glared harder at the boy, the cold air around him strengthening, as he clenched his fists, "You don't get it, kid; Kirene _cannot_ be friends with a human! It's too dangerous!"

That had Nate pausing, "Dangerous? What do you mean…?"

"Found you, Nate!" Kirene's voice suddenly sounded as she popped up around the corner, a visible scowl on her face as she quickly focused on her brother, "Though I hardly call this me finding you, when it was because my stupid brother wouldn't stop bugging you!"

Both Nate and Dandory looked towards the girl with surprise, the human boy giving a cheerful smile, while the yo-kai looked slightly nervous.

"Yeah, looks like you found me," Nate chuckled, getting up and walking over to the cat-girl.

Kirene smiled at Nate as he approached, but quickly focused on her brother once more, with a stern glare.

"Kirene, I was just…" Dandory seemed to be nervously looking for an excuse, his eyes darting to the ground, as his tail and ears drooped, and his feet shuffled in place.

"You were trying to scare Nate out of hanging out with me," Kirene's expression turned to a snarl, baring her fangs towards her elder brother. "Did you really think I wouldn't pick up on that!?"

"Uhhh…" Dandory looked even more nervous, trying to look anywhere than at his sister.

Kirene gave a 'hmph,' grabbing Nate by the wrist, "Come on, Nate, I already found your other two friends, so we need to pick another game!"

"Um, okay," Nate gave a quick glance back at Dandory, before he was dragged off by Kirene, and back over to Zoey and Mary-Lou, to pick another game…

* * *

It was a few days into the camping trip, Nate knew he and his family would be going home tomorrow, he spent plenty of time enjoying more camp activities, spending time with May, Zo and Kirene, trying to make the most of the last day of camp.

Despite his attempts to scare Nate previously, Nate hadn't seen much of Dandory the past couple days; he would on occasion catch a glimpse of him watching from afar, but he had not tried to interact with Nate since that last encounter.

At this moment, though, Kirene had managed to get Nate alone, both of them basking in the sun, on the grass by Mt. Wildwood's shrine.

"Nate, what do you want to be when you grow up…?" Kirene questioned innocently, glancing over at her human friend.

Nate blinked, glancing over at his cat-like companion, humming thoughtfully, "I don't think I ever really thought about that before…"

"Yeah, that sounds like you," Kirene giggled a bit.

Nate blinked again, his narrowing slightly as he sat up, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The female yo-kai sat up as well, smirking at her friend, "You don't really think ahead too much; like when you saved me! You didn't really think that one through, did you?" she decided to leave out the part where the 'saving' turned out to be unneeded.

Nate's expression changed to one of confusion, "I did think that through, Kirene; I thought about how I didn't want you to get hurt, 'cause you're my friend, and I love you!"

Kirene's smirk faded at that remark, her expression turning to a slightly stunned one, her cheeks reddening, "W-What!?" the girl quickly turns away from the boy before he noticed her blushing, covering her face for good measure, "D-Don't go saying something like that so causally, you d-dummy!"

"What, why? It's true," Nate innocently insisted, not understanding why his friend seemed to have suddenly gotten upset, "Kirene? What's the matter…?" the young boy moved closer to the yo-kai, peeking over her shoulder.

Kirene tried her best not to look at the boy, her blush deepening. The feline girl let out a small 'hmph' as she crossed her arms.

"Kirene, come on, what did I say?" Nate questioned desperately as he moved around to try and get his friend to look at him, but Kirene turned away every time, refusing to speak. "Kirene!"

The cat-like girl spared a glance the human boy's way, noticing how tears were starting to form in his eyes. Abandoning any signs of her previous embarrassment, she quickly turned to face him, waving her arms frantically, "Hold on Nate, it's nothing, okay! Don't cry! I love you too!" as soon as the words left her mouth, the yo-kai girl let out a gasp, covering her mouth as her blush returned in full force.

Nate wiped his eyes of tears, sniffling a bit, "R-Really, you do…?"

Kirene seemed unsure of what to say at that point, lowering her hands from her mouth and glancing to the ground, a luminescent blush now clearly visible on her face, "I, well… yeah… Nate, there's… actually something I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Ask me?" the human tilted his head, looking a bit concerned towards his friend's shifting demeanor.

Kirene gulped, tapping her index fingers together anxiously, "Well, I've been thinking, and maybe, do you think… when we're both grown up, could…" the girl trailed off nervously.

Nate blinked, "Could we what, Kirene…?"

"Could… could…" the cat-girl stuttered as she tried to get the words out, before she couldn't hold back anymore, "COULD WE GET MARRIED!?" she quickly covered her mouth after the words escaped.

"Married…?" Nate blinked, an innocently curious look on his face.

"Y-Yeah!" Kirene quickly nodded, her hands balled into fists as her face burned bright red, "When we're all grown up, let's get married! Then, we'll be together forever!"

"Married…?" Nate still seemed a bit confused by the idea, looking up at the sky and tilting his head a bit, "That's what Mama and Daddy are, it's like… being best friends forever, right?"

"Uh… yeah," Kirene nodded, a slightly unsure look crossing her face briefly, "I think it's something like that; I know it means we'd be together forever!" she held out a shaky hand to the boy, "S-So, what do you say…?"

Nate nodded, giving a beaming smile as he took the cat-girl's hands, "Alright, yes! When we're both grown-ups, we'll get married, and be best friends forever!"

"P-Promise?" Kirene looked a bit dizzy as she kept her eyes focused on the boy in front of her.

"Promise!" Nate nodded again, his smile showing no signs of deception or hesitation.

"Pinky promise?" Kirene asked firmly, holding out her pinky finger.

Nate nodded, joining his own pinky with the yo-kai's, "Pinky promise!"

After separating their pinkies, Kirene still didn't look entirely sure, "Uh… super best friend promise!?"

This one had Nate giving a confused look, "Super best friend promise…?"

"IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME, YOU'LL DO IT!" Kirene suddenly snapped, her face glowing bright red, before she covered her mouth and turned away. "S-Sorry."

Nate still just looked innocently confused, but shrugged, smiling at his friend again, "Okay; super best friend promise!"

Kirene let out a tiny gasp, covering her face as her tail swayed back and forth, but there was still that slight bit of unsureness in her expression, "Well, uh… do you super, duper, mega, lovey-dovey, unbreakable, forever-promise!?"

Nate rose a brow, but still gave a friendly smile, "Kirene… I already agreed; when we're grown up, we'll get married! You don't need to keep making up types of promises."

Kirene looked embarrassed, "I-I wasn't making 'em up."

"Okay," Nate giggled a bit, sitting back on the ground.

"I wasn't!" Kirene insisted, glaring at the boy and releasing a huff.

Nate giggled a bit more, "Well, either way; I already agreed, so it's a promise, done and done!"

This comment from the boy had Kirene's anger calming, and her previously flustered demeanor returning, "Y-Yeah… I guess it's so… you really agreed? You'll marry me?"

Nate nodded his head quickly, "Yeah! Do I need to promise _again_?" the human boy gave a playful smirk as he tilted his head questioningly.

The yo-kai girl shook her head, "N-No, it's okay… I believe you," a gentle, loving smile crept its way onto the cat-girl's face, as she clasped her hands together and placed them over where her heart would be. "It-it's a promise…"

* * *

Of course, shortly following Nate and Kirene's promise to get one day get married, they concluded they needed to tell Kirene's family.

Well, Nate concluded; Kirene was reluctant, worried how they might react to this, no matter how much her father seemed to like Nate, there was no guarantee word of this would end well.

However, Nate managed to convince Kirene, so here they were; having gotten all of the Bundory family together; Kirene's father, her grandmother, three brothers, and the butler, all of them were standing before the two children within the abandoned house that was the Bundory's hideout.

"So, Kirene, what's this 'big news' you and Nate have to tell us?" Gowin question his daughter, giving an affectionate grin and petting her on the head.

Kirene blushed furiously, clutching Nate's hand, and looking forward with determination, "D-Daddy, everyone, Nate and I have… made a decision."

"A decision?" Gowin raised a brow, giving a slightly playful grin, "And what sort of decision would that be?"

Kirene gulped, her body trembling a bit, feeling her nerve leaving her.

Nate took notice of this and tightened his grip on the cat-girl's hand, giving a reassuring smile, this did well to calm her down a bit.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, what's the big surprise," the pink-furred, elderly cat-woman, Nate knew to be Kirene's grandmother (he was pretty sure he had heard Gustaf mention her name was Toranka) questioned with a big smirk.

Kirene took a deep breath, before she finally exclaimed, "Nate and I decided that when we grow up, we're going to get married!"

At that moment, the Bundory hideout went completely silent…

After a few silent seconds, Kirene started to grow nervous once more, and Nate was starting to get unsure himself; the two kept their hands tightly linked for comfort.

And then…

"Aha! I knew you two would have something special the moment I saw this little guy!" Gowin suddenly exclaimed, a wide grin on his face as he moved over to his daughter and her human friend, chuckling loudly at both of their surprised faces.

The other members of the family also seemed to be chuckling some, or at least smiling.

"Y-You're okay with it…?" Kirene questioned, looking up at her father hopefully.

"Of course!" the lion-like cat man laughed, "After all, with how close the two of you were getting, I was already ready to consider this boy an honorary Bundory!"

"Honorary Bundory…?" Nate looked confused over exactly what that meant, "But, I'm an Adams?"

"And you always will be!" Gowin assured with a chuckle, ruffling the boy's hair, "But you can also consider yourself a part of our family! You're going to marry my little girl someday, after all!"

The human gave a bright smile, nodding his head quickly, "Yeah! We're gonna be together forever!"

Kirene averted her eyes, trying to hide her obvious blush.

"Oh, this is such a beautiful moment, I d-don't think I can hold b-back my tears!" the skeletal butler sniffled, water starting to pour from his glowing eye sockets, and forming a puddle on the ground below his floating skull.

"Oh, come on Gustaf!" Kirene groaned, feeling even more embarrassed because of the butler's outburst.

"I'm s-sorry, Young Mistress, b-but…" Gustaf suddenly burst into an even bigger, waterfall of tears, "Oh, they grow up so fast!"

Kirene covered her face out of mortification, while Nate just stared at the skeleton man with confusion, and a bit of concern.

"Come on, old friend, you're getting more emotional than me, and I'm the father," Gowin chuckled as he walked over to his butler, giving him a comforting pat on the back, though the large cat-man unintentionally put too much force into said pat, as it sent Gustaf's body flying into the wall, "Whoops…"

Gustaf's floating skull didn't seem to notice his body being sent flying, still too preoccupied by his emotions towards Kirene 'growing up.'

"Oh, come on, you bony goof!" the grandmother spoke up, giving an annoyed look as she approached the crying skull, before she grabbed, and started shaking him, "Get a hold of yourself, before you flood the whole hideout!"

After a bit of shaking, the tears finally subsided, with Gustaf giving a few more sniffles, before his skull floated free from Toranka's hands, "M-My apologies, this is just such a beautiful moment, I got very emotional," the skull did a few 'bows' of apology, before he finally noticed the state of the rest of him, "Wait… why is my body in the wall!?"

Gustaf's legs twitched a bit, being the only part of the skeletal butler's body that was visible from the hole in the wall.

"Erm, yeah… sorry about that," Gowin waved awkwardly, before he moved to pull the body free from the wall.

Toranka rolled her eyes, before she turned her focus to her granddaughter, and Nate, once more, "Well, I'm still a bit confused on the circumstances behind it, and I'm not so sure it's a great idea to decide on something like marriage at your age, but I am glad to see you bagged yourself a good one, Kirene!"

Kirene averted her eyes bashfully, "Er, th-thanks, Grandma…"

Nate blinked with confusion in his eyes, "… 'Bagged?'"

Toranka just chuckled at that reaction, giving Nate a pat on the head, "Don't you worry about that, sonny, you just be sure to be a good husband to my granddaughter once you're all grown up, because I'm sure she'll be the best wife you could ever hope for!"

Kirene grew even more bashful in reaction to her grandmother's words to her 'future-husband,' covering her bright red face.

Nate blinked again, before he smiled at the elderly cat-woman, nodding his head rapidly, "Yeah! Kirene's the best! And I'm gonna try my best to be the best for her back!"

"Well said," Toranka nodded with another chuckle, patting the boy's head again, "I can tell you two will do fine!"

Despite her embarrassment, Kirene showed a grateful smile to her grandmother, as the elderly woman backed off.

Nate happily waved bye to Toranka, as she went over to help her son with pulling Gustaf's body from the wall, before he noticed someone else approaching him from the side, and grew a bit stiff, "Dandory?"

"Hello, Nathan," the older boy greeted in the same cold tone he had last confronted the human with.

Nate looked unsure, and Kirene turned a glare towards her brother, looking ready to pounce forward and fight him if she needed to…

"I've been watching you, and… I think my father and sister are right, you're a good human," Dandory's expression became a kind smile.

"Really…?" Nate gave a wide-eyed look of amazement at that; Dandory didn't want him to stay away from his sister anymore, he trusted him? The thought of that made the human's little heart swell with even more joy, and he hadn't thought he _could_ have been happier at the previous moment!

"I told you, why didn't you just take my word for it!?" Kirene giggled as she jumped over to her 'future husband,' and grabbed his right arm in a tight grip.

Dandory's calm demeanor cracked ever so slightly at that jab from his sister, with the eldest of the Bundory children doing his best not to let it show, "As I had said previously; you had barely known him a day, it was difficult to say for sure if he could be trusted, without further observation!"

"And yet, Daddy was able to tell he was a good guy from their first meeting," Kirene scoffed, hugging the boy's arm a bit tighter, causing Nate to give a tiny yelp of surprise.

Dandory gave a few, obviously fake coughs, before focusing on Nate and smiling again, "Anyway, I'm trusting you from now on, so you look after my little sister, okay?" the cat-boy laughed, reaching down to ruffle the younger boy's hair a bit.

Nathan giggled a bit as the older boy's hand left his head, before he looked up, his eyes shining with determination, "I will!"

Dandory looked pleased with that answer.

Kirene seemed less so, releasing Nate's arm from her grip, before she put her hands on her hips with an expression of light indignation on her face, "Um, excuse you? I think you mean _I'm_ going to be looking after you, _Nathan_, considering how helpless you are on your own!"

Nate looked back at Kirene with some offense, "What? I'm not helpless! I'm four!"

"So am I, but that's not the point!" Kirene snapped, crossing her arms poking Nate on the forehead, "You're a soft and squishy human! I'm a powerful yo-kai, I think it's clear who's going to be doing the protecting around here!"

A small, embarrassed blush appeared on Nathan's face, averting his gaze from the cat-girl, "W-Well, we could maybe both help in protecting each other…?"

"No," Kirene quickly denied, giving a triumphant smirk, "It'll be all me."

"But…" Nate drooped a bit, "I want to be able to help you too…"

The cat-girl flinched a bit when she noticed the sad expression on her crush's face, before she quickly gave a reassuring smile, "I-I'm sure there will be many things you can help me with, fighting just isn't likely to be one of them; you should really leave that to me! But I know there will be lots of times to come where you will be a big help!"

This bit of reassurance had Nate perking up a bit once more, smiling at Kirene, and quickly bringing her into a hug, which had her face glowing with a big florescent blush. "Thanks, Kirene!"

"N-No problem," Kirene stuttered a bit, patting the boy on the back as they hugged, before the two separated, and smiled at each other again, both giving a slight giggle.

Dandory gave a bit of laugh of his own, over watching the two young children's interactions, "Well, whoever's looking after whom, I'm sure everything will work out great between you two!"

"Shut up," Kirene grumbled, glaring at her big brother from under her bangs.

Nate ignored Kirene's contrary mood, giving a cheerful grin, and holding up a hand, "Yeah, me and Kirene are gonna be together forever!"

Kirene let out a tiny squeak, looking away from the two boy's and covering her face.

Nate blinked, looking at the girl in confusion, "Kirene, why do you keep hiding your face like that…?"

"Be quiet, Nathan!" the cat-girl quickly snapped, without turning towards the boy, for fear of exposing her red face.

Dandory just gave an amused smirk at his younger sister's actions, "Come on, sis, why are you so nervous around your future husband? You've already decided you're going to get married, so you should have nothing to hide from each other!"

Kirene snarled as she suddenly charged at her chuckling brother, a yellow glow sparking from her hidden eyes, before she kicked the older yo-kai in the shin.

"YEOW!?" the older brother jumped up, grabbing his left leg in pain, and hopping on the right one.

Nate looked at Dandory with concern, before he glanced at Kirene, who was breathing heavily, "Why'd you kick your big brother?"

Kirene just let out a low growl, before she marched off, towards where her other siblings were talking.

Nate watched Kirene walking away, before he turned back to Dandory, just as the boy stopped hopping, but was still wincing a bit as he set down his leg, "What was that about, just now…?"

Dandory shook his head as the pain in his leg calmed down, before he gave the small boy a reassuring smile, "Er, don't worry too much about that; Kirene's kind of embarrassed about her crush on you, even if you already agreed you'll marry her."

The four-year-old tilted his head innocently, "Crush on me…? I thought Kirene liked me."

Dandory stared at the young boy for a moment, before he let out an affectionate laugh, shaking his head, "No, Nate, her having a crush on you _does _mean she likes you!"

This answer seemed to confuse the young boy even more, "Why would crushing anything mean you liked it…?"

Dandory had to restrain himself from laughing more, instead he just ruffled Nate's hair again, "Don't worry about any of the details, Nate, just know that my sister _really_ likes you, and I think the two of you could be a great team for a _long_ time!"

That assurance had Nathan smiling again, "You really think so?"

"You bet!" Dandory gave a thumbs up, "Just remember; from now on, you're one of us; an honorary Bundory!" the cat-boy showed a kind smile at that declaration, "You're now a part of this family, and we look out for family here, so if you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask any of us!"

"Yay! Family!" Nate let out a big cheer, before he jumped forward and hugged the older boy.

The sudden action of affection left Dandory stunned for a brief moment, but he quickly recovered, and gave a small smile as he hugged the smaller boy back, patting him on the head, "Yay, family."

Nate separated from the boy, nodding rapidly.

"And if we're family, you can just call me 'Big Brother Dandory,' alright?" the eldest brother gave a kind smile as he kneeled to Nate's level, offering a fist-bump.

Nate looked a bit hesitant for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden offer of being 'brothers' with the cat-boy, but he quickly gave a shy smile back, "Alright, big brother," the little boy agreed, returning the fist-bump.

* * *

"And what has you so upset, little sister?" a cat-boy who seemed a bit younger than Dandory, wrapped in a dark cloak, a top hat on his head with two yellow cat-ears sticking out, questioned as he looked over his pouting younger sister, "You were so excited about introducing your 'future husband,' but now you're all frowns."

"Can it, Spatto," the cat-girl hissed, sitting on the ground with crossed arms.

Sitting beside his sister was the final of Kirene's brothers, a slightly chubby, pink-furred cat-boy, of about three-years-old, he was mainly focused on his lollipop, but his attention was turned to his big sister at her sour comment, "Kiwene, you alwight?"

The female Bundory was unable to keep as much of an angry look when her focus was put on her innocent baby brother, she couldn't help but change her expression to a smile, albeit, an unsure one, "Yeah, I'm fine… Dandory was just being a jerk is all!" she pouted once more.

"Kirene, you alright?" Nate echoed the youngest Bundory's words as he came walking over, looking to the yo-kai girl with concern, "Why'd you run away?"

Kirene gave the human boy a deadpan look, before she suddenly cracked a smile, releasing a bit of a chuckle, "It's nothing Nate, everything's fine," she got back up to her feet, brushing herself off, and looked at her crush with a big smile.

"And now we finally get to meet this guy face-to-face," Spatto spoke up, looking over Nate with interest.

Kirene's smile almost instantly turned upside down, her expression becoming one of panic as she looked over at her second older brother, "Spatto, I'm warning– "

"Do not panic, my dear little sister, I won't do anything bad to him," the well-hatted cat assured, giving a mischievous grin as he slunk closer to the human.

"Hello," Nate smiled at the older boy, giving a friendly wave, "You're Spatto, right?"

"That's correct, you catch on quickly," the cloaked cat-boy chuckled, circling Nate a few times, before nodding, and backing off, "Yes, I think you and my sister will be very good together."

Nate's smile widened a bit, "Thanks!"

Kirene let out a subtle sigh of relief as she saw her brother back off from her future-husband, before she noticed a tugging on her tail, she glanced down to see her little brother holding her tail, and looking towards the human boy with curiosity and a bit of apprehension.

"Can I meet him…?" the three-year-old cat-boy asked hopefully.

Kirene stared at her younger brother for a couple seconds, before she gave a little chuckle, nodding her head, and taking the younger boy's hand into her own, and pulling him over to the human, "Nate, you only have one more family member to meet, say hello to little Tanto!"

Seeing the three-year-old nervously smiling at him, still occasionally licking his lollipop, but keeping his big eyes focused on the human boy, Nate found himself smiling back kindly; a natural reaction for the boy, but he also felt a certain sense of ease looking at the younger boy that he didn't feel from the other members of Kirene's family.

"Hey, Tanto, I'm Nathan," the human boy chuckled, holding offering a hand to the chubby cat-boy, "But, you can call me Nate! Kirene mentioned you were a very good boy, and I'm very happy to meet you!"

Tanto's nervousness faded a bit after Nate spoke, the youngest Bundory's smile widening a bit as he let out a small giggle, his hand was released from his older sister's, and he reached out to grasp the human's, "I'm happy to meet you too, Nate! Kiwene talked a lot about you!"

"Good things, I hope," Nate chuckled as he shook the younger boy's hand.

"Yeah! So much good!" Tanto cheered, his tail noticeably swinging from side to side. "Kiwene thinks you'we the best!"

"The best, huh?" Nate smiled widely, looking towards the girl.

Kirene gave a few fake coughs, looking away with embarrassment, "I-I never said you were the 'best!'"

There was a lot of chuckling from the family at Kirene's denial, but she soon joined in, the levity of the whole situation setting in.

* * *

Following that fateful camping trip, Nathan would continue to interact with and spend time with the Bundory family on a regular basis, he enjoyed spending time with Kirene and her brothers and over time grew much closer to them as a whole.

He also continued to see Zoey and Mary-Lou, finding that the two girls didn't live all too far from his own house.

Often times Nate, Zoey, Mary-Lou and Kirene would all get together, and even though the two human girls still had trouble seeing and hearing the yo-kai girl, over time there was signs of improvement, and the group became closer as a whole, even if there was some signs of competition for Nate's attention among the girls at times.

Nate also met Zoey's twin sister, Kaitlyn, someone who he could consider another friend, but he didn't really end up spending much time with her, and she seemed to have trouble talking coherently to Nate, which he found confusing, but Zoey seemed to think was funny…

Many months passed with this dynamic remaining mostly the same, each of childrens' fifth birthdays came to pass, and it seemed like they could remain as they were forever.

Things certainly weren't perfect, but Nate was extremely happy to finally have real friends to spend time with, after being lonely for so long. In the little boy's mind, it_ was_ perfect.

Then, came the day Mary-Lou moved away…

* * *

The moving truck was stationed right in front of Mary-Lou's home, everything had already been packed up, and Mary's father was pulling up the car, ready to drive his family to the airport, that would take them to BBQ.

However, the parents didn't want to rush their daughter too much…

"May!" Nate hugged the pink-haired girl tightly, tears streaming from his eyes, "I don't want you to go away!"

Mary-Lou was crying just as much as the boy, her face bright red as she hugged him back, "I-I don't wanna go either! I d-don't understand why!"

"Oh, quit being a couple of b-babies!" Zoey scoffed, trying to hide the tears welling up behind her glasses, "J-Just leave already, won't you!?"

Mary-Lou released her hold of the boy and looked towards the girl she had known for as long as she could remember, sniffling and wiping a few tears.

Zoey stared back at the other girl, before she suddenly jumped forward and grabbed her in a hug, "WAH! I HATE THIS! WHY DO YOU GOTTA LEAVE, MAY!? WHY!?"

"I told you, Zo, only Nate can call me May!" Mary cried out, even more tears falling from her eyes as she hugged her bespectacled friend back tightly, "I'm gonna miss you so much, you stupid jerk!"

The three children kept hugging, crying, and yelling about this not being fair; the parents of all three could only watch from the sidelines, their hearts going out to their innocent young children who couldn't understand why they had to be separated from their friends.

The parents collectively felt their hearts breaking as they couldn't help feeling responsible, but some things couldn't be helped…

"Good, one less of you trying to take my future-husband's attention," standing a short distance behind Nate, Kirene stood with her arms crossed, trying to look uncaring, despite a few tears falling out from under her bangs. "I-I'm glad to see you go, I won't miss you or anything!"

The three human kids turned to the yo-kai girl, though only Nate could see and hear her perfectly, both Zoey and Mary-Lou had come a long way in perceiving her; her form more clear, and they could hear her voice, though it sounded a bit like a bad radio signal to them.

"K-Kirene…" the pink-haired human sniffled as she looked at the yo-kai girl.

Kirene tried to ignore the gaze of the other girl, but it wasn't long before she broke down, "D-Dangit, just get over here already, y-you wimp!"

Without another word, Mary-Lou rushed over to the somewhat blurry (to her) form of the yo-kai girl, and grabbed her in a hug just like she shared with Nathan and Zoey, and continued her crying into the cat-girl's shoulder.

"Kirene, I'll miss you too!" Mary-Lou cried to the cat-girl, ignoring the strange looks some of the adults were giving her, as she appeared to be hugging nothing.

"Why do you have to say stupid junk like that!?" Kirene cried back, trying her hardest to sound angry. "You better not forget about me!"

"I promise, I won't!" Mary-Lou exclaimed.

After separating from the yo-kai girl, Mary-Lou turned her focus to Nate once more, there was still one more thing she needed to do, before she left... "Nate?"

"Y-Yeah, May?" Nate sniffled as he looked at the girl.

"N-Nate, I, uh…" Mary-Lou's face was turning as pink as her hair as she looked at the boy, her eyes filling with more tears as she went over the idea of possibly never seeing him again, over and over, of never telling him how she felt…

Nate could hardly make heads or tails of Mary-Lou's emotions; they were such a confusing swirl, but the primary thing he could see was how sad she was, so he did the only thing he could think of. "It-It's okay, May," Nate tried to sound reassuring, even as his voice cracked due to his own sadness, moving forward and hugging the girl again, "W-We'll see each other again, I just kn-know it!"

"Nate, I…" Mary-Lou whimpered as she clung to the boy, struggling to say what she wanted to.

Kirene and Zoey both seemed to realize what Mary-Lou was doing, and neither of them looked happy with it; but they didn't make any moves to stop her.

"I, uh…" the pink-haired girl gave a few fake coughs, her eyes darting in every direction, except for the direction of the boy she was hugging, "Nate, I… I'm gonna miss you."

Nate's eyes widened, and a slight dusting of pink came to his cheeks, as the girl suddenly gave him a kiss on the cheek, before separating from him, and running over to her parents.

Kirene let out a low growl, and Zoey just huffed.

"Just so you know, she only gets one because she's leaving anyway," the cat-girl growled, making sure the bespectacled girl could hear her. "Don't even think of trying anything like that."

"We'll see how things work out," Zoey would have smirked, but she couldn't bring herself to with her current mood, in regards to her friend leaving.

"May…" Nate stared after the retreating girl, eyes wide in confusion, and his hand on the cheek where she had kissed.

* * *

Several months passed following Mary-Lou's move; the house down the block from Nate's own, where he would remember fondly spending time with the pink-haired girl, and the rest of his friends, was now empty and silent.

The big 'For Sale' (as Nate's parents had told him it said) sign had not moved since that day it was placed in front of the house, which Nate had many confusing feelings towards; he found it kind of sad for the house to remain empty, but he also felt like he didn't want anyone else to move into May's house, maybe if it remained empty, if nobody else filled that spot, May would come back…

The young boy realized that probably wasn't true, but he couldn't help thinking about it. He wanted May back, he wanted to play with her again, he wanted to spend time together with Zo and Kirene, he wanted things to go back to how they were before.

Zoey… was different since Mary-Lou moved. She didn't come over as much, she didn't talk to Nate as much either, she still did, they still had fun together, but she was growing more distant, the boy didn't know what to do.

As for Nate's relationship with Kirene, it had actually gotten closer since the day May had moved away; the yo-kai girl had gotten clingier with Nate, and with Zoey spending less time with him overall, Kirene was the only other friend he could turn to.

As well, Nate's feelings towards the girl had been shifting since that day; he was extremely confused by Mary-Lou's parting gesture, and all the strange feelings it filled him with, until his mother explained it to him…

* * *

"Love…?" Nate questioned innocently, looking up at his mother from his position in her lap.

Lily gave a gentle smile while she stroked her young son's hair, "Well, I'm not entirely sure if it could be called love yet, but it certainly seems like the beginning of it."

"But… I already love my friends, and you, and daddy, and grandma, and– "

The mother made a light shushing sound as she patted the boy's head, having him stopping in what he was saying, and giving her a chance to interject, "Nathan, what I'm talking about is… a different kind of love."

This had Nate growing more confused, "There are different kinds of love…?"

Lily released a light giggle, "Many kinds, my little baby, it's a lot more complicated than you would think."

Nate tilted his head questioningly.

The mother released a small coo over her son's cuteness, before she continued speaking, "I think, though I can't speak for sure, that Mary-Lou was starting to feel the kind of love, that could someday grow into something… something like Mommy and Daddy have with each other."

"What's different about that love, than the love I feel for my friends, and you?" Nate asked, his brow furrowing from all the confusion he felt; the emotions swirling around his mom weren't helping much; she seemed happy, and sad at the same time…

"It's really not something you should have to worry about at your age," Lily assured, picking up her son off her lap, and setting him onto the ground, "I think, Mary-Lou really liked you, and was hoping to develop that kind of love with you someday, and… it's too bad she had to leave…" the mother noticed how her son's expression turned sad at the mention of his friend moving away, so she reached forward and brought him into a comforting hug.

* * *

It took a few more explanations before Nathan started to understand what his mom had meant, and he still wasn't entirely sure he got it; but it had something to do with wanting to always be with someone, wanting to be together and… share their lives…

If May had felt like that towards Nate, and he hadn't even realized it before she could move away… the boy wasn't sure how to feel about that; he really liked her, but he wasn't sure he would have been able to return that kind of love.

Especially not when he had promised to marry Kirene…

'_Kirene…?_' and that's when the boy started thinking hard; did he love Kirene in that way?

It was unfortunate, that Nate would come to the conclusion to that question, just a bit too late…

* * *

"Y-You're leaving!?" Nate gave a look of utter despair as he stood just outside his home, facing the yo-kai he considered to be his best friend in the world.

His best friend in world, who was now tearfully telling him she would be leaving Springdale, just like Mary-Lou had.

"I'm sorry, Nate, I just… I don't have a choice, there-there's something important," Kirene whimpered between sniffles. "S-Something I'm n-not allowed to talk about…"

"B-But, w-why do you have to go!?" Nate cried out with desperation, clinging to the cat-girl.

"I-I don't, I-I can't," Kirene was having trouble speaking coherently, tears freely flowing from her hidden eyes, "I-I, it's important, Nate, I j-just, I c-can't…"

"You can't go, we promised we'd be together forever!" Nathan was shaking, his expression filled with despair at the idea of his best friend, and crush, leaving, it was like the pain of Mary-Lou moving away all over again, but somehow even worse! "W-We promised…"

"I-I know," the cat-girl whimpered, squeezing the boy back, "But… I c-can't… I'll come b-back, I…"

"Don't lie!" Nate suddenly yelled, pulling away from the girl, and facing her with tearful, but narrowed eyes, "Y-You don't actually know, d-don't lie to me, Kirene… especially not about this!"

Kirene sniffled more, wiping some of her tears away, and giving her best friend/crush a sad grin, "I-I thought you couldn't sense yo-kai emotions."

Nate gave an equally sad smile back, "I-I can't, I don't need to s-sense your emotions to k-know what you're feeling, Kirene. I j-just know."

That comment had Kirene's smile go wider, a glowing blush coming to her face, and the tears flowing from her eyes increasing.

However, that smile soon faded, "I-I'm sorry, Nate, but… I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know if we're going to be able to keep our promise…"

"Then, I'll come with you!"

"What!?" Kirene gawked at the boy's determined declaration, before she started shaking her head quickly, "No, Nate, you can't come! It's too dangerous!"

"I have to come!" Nate insisted, before he grabbed the cat-girl's hands, both of their faces reddening as they stared at each other, "I p-promised you, Kirene, that I'd marry you when we grow-up! I'm going to keep that promise, I-I…" the boy's face glowed a deeper shade of red, "I love you!"

"N-Nate…?" Kirene hiccupped, looking at the boy with a miserable expression, "P-Please, don't say that, I c-can't– "

"I do!" Nate affirmed, his expression showing a seriousness beyond his years, "And, n-not like I said before! I don't mean how I love my mama or daddy, or how I love Zo or M-May!" his expression faltered a bit, with him looking to the ground, and moving a hand to the back of his head unsurely, "I, uh, I don't know if I really even understand w-what this is, b-but… I know I don't ever want to be without you, Kirene!"

Kirene's eyes widened to the point they could actually be seen under her bangs, her expression was unreadable, and her blush intensified to the point her entire body was practically glowing red, "N-Nathan…?"

"I-I do," Nate quickly affirmed, despite his unsure and fearful expression, "I d-don't know what t-these feelings are, but the idea of being without you Kirene, the idea of maybe n-never seeing you again, of-of n-not fulfilling our promise…" Nate shook his head, giving a large smile, his tearful eyes filled with sincerity, "I want to always be with Kirene, forever!"

"Oh, Nate… I-I'm so happy to hear that!" Kirene cried as she hugged the boy tightly, "I love you like that too… and I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for wha– "before Nate could even finish his sentence, Kirene suddenly released Nate, and threw something in the boy's face, Nate coughed as whatever object Kirene had thrown exploded into a cloud of blue smoke. "Kirene!?" the boy desperately called out between coughs, he could hear her footsteps speeding away, but he could not see the yo-kai girl in the smoke.

Then, he started to feel tired, Nate found his eyelids growing heavy, and his legs growing wobbly, "K-Kirene, w-why…?"

"Nate, I'll never forget you, but I'm afraid you can't come with me."

The boy looked to where the fading sound of Kirene's voice came from, he could vaguely make out her silhouette, and weakly reached out.

"We'll fulfill that promise… someday."

As Kirene's shadow faded from view, Nate tried to run after her, but his legs would not move, and his eyes started to close on their own, "K-Kirene, don't… go."

And then, everything went dark…

* * *

"Kirene…" Nate moaned, his consciousness returning, looking around and finding himself on the couch in his living room, both his parents looking over him worriedly.

"Nathan are you alright?" the boy's mother asked worriedly, placing a hand on his forehead.

"You just passed out, how are you feeling?" the father asked, his voice equally worried.

"I… I'm fine…" Nate muttered, his expression blank, but with a few tears still leaking from his eyes, '_Kirene… why did you do that…?_'

"You don't seem to have a fever," Lily concluded, pulling her hand away, but still clearly worried for her son. "This is strange, maybe we should take you to the doctor…"

Nate sat up from the couch, shaking his head quickly, "No, I don't need a doctor, I feel fine!" the five-year-old jumped up from the couch and started stretching and jumping in place; he didn't want to go to the doctor, he wanted to try and find Kirene, before she was gone.

However, despite the boy's attempts to prove he was fine, it couldn't dissuade his parents' worries; they ended up taking him to a doctor, and though the doctor confirmed there didn't seem to be anything wrong with Nathan, the parents were advised to keep an eye on the boy.

And thus, Nate was under the watchful eyes of his parents for the rest of the day, unable to go and try to find his best friend/first crush, trying his best to show himself as fine before his concerned parents, while internally he grew more and more anxious at the growing possibility that he would miss any chance to see Kirene again before she was gone, and possibly ever again…

* * *

It wasn't until well into the night, hours after Nathan had been put to bed, and both his parents had gone to bed themselves, that the boy finally got the opportunity he was looking for…

The child quietly crept out of the door to his room, careful not to make too much noise as he moved through the hall before he made it to the stairs and headed down.

Nathan's brown eyes narrowed; he could see his target; the front door. The idea of sneaking out, and even possibly running away, filled the child with anxiety; he knew that his parents would be extremely upset if they woke up and he was missing, but…

"I need to see Kirene, at least just one last time," Nate whispered to himself as he came to the bottom of the staircase, heading for the door, he reached upward for the nob–

"You're going to try and come after us, aren't you?"

The sudden voice startled the boy, who had thought he was alone. Nate spun around, and was surprised to find a familiar face standing by the staircase, "Big Brother Spatto…?"

"I thought Kirene may not have done enough to dissuade you from coming after us," the cloak-wearing cat-boy sighed, moving over to the human boy's side, looking down at him seriously, "And, I repeat; you're going to try and come after us, _aren't you_?"

Nate looked confused for a moment, before he gained a determined look in his eyes, nodding, "Yeah, I-I need to– "

"No," Spatto denied bluntly, "Don't even try, we've already cleared out the hideout, you won't be able to find us no matter how hard you look, don't try and follow us."

Nate looked surprised, a bit a hurt, by the blunt tone of one of his older brother figures, but he wasn't about to just take that as an answer, "I can't do that, I need to find Kirene, I just need to see her again– "

"No!" Spatto insisted once more, lightly tapping the boy on the head with his staff, "Do you have any idea how difficult it was for my sister to even go say goodbye to you? If you go and see her now, I know the two of you will never let each other go. We can't leave Kirene behind, and you can't come with us!"

Nate flinched at the severity in the older boy's tone, "B-But, why? Why can't I– "

"BECAUSE IF YOU DO, YOU WILL DIE!" the cat-like yo-kai shouted, slamming the bottom of his staff on the floor, his face contorted into a look that was some kind of mixture of outrage, despair, and regret. "Kirene may not be sure, but I know for sure; we're not coming back! But at least we may survive, you, on the other hand, never would, and I cannot allow that to happen!"

The human boy was left in a stunned silence by the yo-kai's grave words; what in the world were Kirene and her family getting themselves into…?

"We're not coming back, Nathan, forget about us, forget about Kirene, live your life," Spatto spoke seriously, circling around the boy, his expression trying to remain cold, but there was clear worry seeping through the mask, "Please."

Nate shook his head, pulling himself out of his stunned state, and standing firm with a determined look once more, "N-No, I can't do that, Spatto! I-I love Kirene! We promised we'd be together forever, I promised her I'd marry her! I-I have to– "

"Enough!" the cat-boy snapped, holding his staff, which started glowing with green energy, "I'm not very good at this, and my family will probably hate me if they ever find out what I'm about to do, but you leave me no choice! If there is nothing that I can say to convince you to forget about us, then for your own good, I'll _make_ you forget!"

Nate froze in his tracks, his eyes glazing over as he starred at Spatto's staff, "F-Forget…? But… Kirene– "

Spatto grit his teeth, forcing out the next words from his mouth, "There is no Kirene; you just had a dream."

"A… dream…?" Nate struggled to reject this idea, but the hypnotic magic was too strong for his young mind.

"Yes, it was just a dream, there's no such thing as a 'Kirene Bundory,' your mind made her up, she was imaginary!"

"N-No, that can't be– "

"Listen!" Spatto snapped, tightening his grip on his staff, and straining as the green glow increased, "There is no Kirene, no yo-kai, supernatural things, or anything like that. You're a normal human boy, who lives a normal human life, g-got it!?"

"N-Normal…?"

"Yes, listen to me very carefully! Your name is Nathan Adams, you are an average, human child. You live with your mother and father; you have never encountered a being known as a 'yo-kai.' You cannot see things other people can't, you do not have the ability to sense other people's emotions. You are an average, human boy, nothing more than an average human boy," Spatto continued to enforce the change of mindset onto young Nathan Adams, pushing down a pang in his heart he felt for doing this to the child he and his whole family had come to adore.

"A-Average human boy…" Nate repeated, his body shaking and tears starting to form in his eyes. "No Kirene, no yo-kai… average…"

"Yes, that's right," Spatto spoke carefully, "Now, you need to go back to bed, your parents will be upset if they find you up this late."

"Yes… bed," Nate's eyes drooped, before he turned and started making his way back up the stairs, towards his bedroom…

Spatto stared after the boy with a pained look, letting out a heavy sigh, "Nathan, Kirene… I'm so sorry… but this is for both of your own good…"

* * *

Up the stairs, in Nathan Adam's bedroom, the boy went over to his bed, crawling under the covers.

'_Average human boy… average human boy… average… average… average…_' the voice in Nate's mind kept repeating as the little boy huddled up, his body shivering, before he drifted to sleep.

'_Average…_'

* * *

Whew, that took a lot longer than I thought it would!

I initially thought this would be one of the shortest chapters to write, but due to various factors, such as writers block, many real-life elements, and not being entirely sure what to actually have in this chapter, since I couldn't put in everything Nate and Kirene ever did together, the chapter ended up taking a pretty long while to finish.

There are still some loose ends here, of course; like, why could Nate see yo-kai and sense emotions in the first place? Why didn't Zoey bring up Kirene to Nate? Among various other questions.

These will all be answered in future chapters.

Anyway…

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;' Nate awakens to find himself in the clutches of the Bundory family, and with a multitude of confusing emotions swirling through his head towards one certain cat-girl, though time to process those feelings are limited when a wedding is already being prepared! Various parties race against the clock to get Nate back before he's forced to say 'I do,' but the Bundory family isn't about to let him go so easily…

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' **You Promised!**


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